Planet Alaria
by QueenOfDragons2
Summary: When EVE and WALL-E are taken to a distant planet, they soon learn of a plot to take it over. Along the way, they meet several people, make new friends, and even learn more about themselves. Lots of OCs.
1. Planet Alaria

It had been several weeks since EVE and WALL-E had told Andrentureasu (or Anny for short) the story of how Auto had returned. Now she wanted to find out more about the bronze

dragon they had mentioned. The dragon who had claimed to be incredibly old, older than the universe had existed, older than, perhaps, Anny's parents, Celestia and Karantius…

There was going to be a meeting in a week between the humans, the Albatrians, and several other species that she hadn't been told about.

Anny was waiting not very far from WALL-E and EVE's trailer. They had been gone for several hours, longer than she thought they would be.

She was also tired, so she took a nap. She only got a few minutes of rest before a robots said, _"Anny."_

She instantly woke up. About three feet away from her was WALL-E and EVE, surrounded by their friends.

EVE said, _"We think we should tell you a little more about one of the races that are coming to the meeting in a week. Of course, I know that you won't be satisfied with just an explanation of _

_the species."_

Anny said, "You are correct. By the way, does this involve the bronze dragon?"

"_Err, it does. How did you know?"_

"I've been very curious about it."

"_It's a long story, but we should have enough time to tell it and not have to rush."_

"I feel another story coming. How long ago was it?"

"_Not that long ago. In fact, we got back from it only two weeks before you guys came."_

"Really?"

"_Really. Now, here goes…"_

Insert story breaker here

WALL-E and EVE slept peacefully in their trailer. Many had been surprised at how long they had remained together: 1,300 years. Even they had been somewhat surprised.

The night was peaceful. The full moon shone brightly, and there wasn't a cloud in the night sky. Crickets chirped contentedly and there was even the occasional hoot of an owl. It

seemed like nothing could disturb the peace.

Suddenly, everything went totally quiet. Even the soft howl of the wind had stopped. WALL-E and EVE woke up. They could sense that something was wrong. But it wasn't cold, and

there was no feeling of unnaturalness in the air.

The door to their trailer suddenly opened. The bronze dragon, who they had not seen for so long was standing there, looking exhausted.

EVE said, _"You? What are you-?"_

The dragon interrupted. "Look you two. We need to get going. There isn't any time for us to just stand around here. We need to move!"

The robots quickly obeyed. The dragon led them away from the city.

"The fate of an entire planet rest on your shoulders. It is imperative that we get moving and quickly!"

WALL-E said, _"You mean Earth's in danger?"_

"I said AN entire planet, not THE entire planet."

EVE said, _"You're taking us to some random planet that needs help? Why can't you do it yourself?"_

The dragon stopped at that. "I would if I could. And it isn't just some random planet. You both have been there before, but you don't remember." He resumed walking.

"_What are you talking about?"_

The dragon stopped in front of a strange rocket. He opened a hatch on the side and forced the robots inside. He then shut the hatch. Before either of them could do anything, they

felt a rumbling coming from the base of rocket. It took off quickly.

EVE shouted, _"Why in the world is he doing this?"_

Insert story breaker here

It felt like an eternity before WALL-E saw an orange dot in the distance through one of the windows. The dot got bigger until it became clear that it was a planet.

When EVE saw it, she said, _"That's the planet he wants us to help? It doesn't look like it needs help."_

WALL-E said, _"Looks can be deceiving."_

"_That's true."_

As they approached the planet, their rocket was pulled into a nearby docking station. When the rocket was completely inside, the hatch opened. They didn't move. Then they were

forced out by something. When they were out, the hatch closed. A set of doors opened on a nearby wall. They led to a clean, white hallway. With a degree of reluctance, they went

through. The moment they got through the doors, they closed and the airlock doors on the other side opened and the rocket took off with nobody inside. They both stared on in

dismay.

After the airlock doors had closed again, EVE said, _"Great. Now we're stuck on some planet that we've never been to, we don't know where we are, and even if we did, we don't have any _

_way back."_

WALL-E, having nothing else good to say, said, _"Let's start by finding a way down to the planet."_

"_You're right."_

It was easier than they initially thought. There were special pods that could take them to the surface without getting burned. The course was automated and there were no controls,

apparently to prevent somebody from trying to steal one.

When they were through the atmosphere, they could see the huge city they were heading for. The architecture somewhat resembled that of the humans' on Earth. They didn't have

much time to think about it when the pod docked at another station, this time on the ground. The robots quickly got off the pod and the station. They stared up in wonder at the half-

familiar, half-alien architecture. But there was something very faintly familiar about the alien part of it…

The robots suddenly heard something. EVE picked up WALL-E, preparing to dash off. Two red eyes appeared out of darkness, accompanied by a growl. It crept slowly towards them.

EVE immediately took off. The streets were completely empty, although street lamps were on.

EVE looked back…and panicked a little. The thing was following them at a slightly faster speed than them. Also, the lamps turned off as it got close, preventing them from seeing

exactly what it looked like.

EVE did several turns and twists, but it was always behind and a little bit faster. Finally, EVE decided to try going through an open manhole. Whatever it was, it was too big to follow

them through it. The robots came out at an open manhole quite some distance away. Just when they thought they were safe, all the street lamps nearby went out and the thing

came out of nowhere. But this time, it was in front of them. It let out a loud screech and struck them hard with its large, long, and sharp claws. They were knocked to the ground and

knocked EVE out. WALL-E heard the thing growl again. He then heard the fading sound of claws gently scratching the ground, as if it was running away from something. He was lying

on his side with the left side of his head on the ground. From this position, he could see that the street lamps had come back on. He heard a door open and a man said, "What was-

what the-?"

WALL-E didn't hear or see anything else, for then he went unconscious.

Insert story breaker here

WALL-E woke up slowly. The first thing he heard was the man saying, "Amazing…Earth has been fully restored. It looks better than I ever imagined!"

WALL-E heard a girl say, "I've never seen so much green in my life." Her voice didn't sound very human.

The man said, "I don't think you ever will again. Wait, I think the robot's waking up."

WALL-E opened his eyes and saw two people about ten feet away. A man was sitting at a large computer screen. A girl, whose skin was orange, was standing next to the man. Both

were looking at WALL-E.

The girl went up to WALL-E. He used the opportunity to get a closer look at her. Not only was her skin orange, she had only 4 fingers on each hand, her fingers looked a little too slim

to be human, her teeth had pointed ends, and her eyes were definitely not human. WALL-E looked at the man sitting at the computer. He was clearly human.

The man said, "Since you're probably wondering why the girl looks so strange, it's because she's an Elstrian, the native sentient species of this planet." WALL-E continued to look at

him.

The girl said, "We call this planet Alaria, after a wise and powerful former ruler."

The man said, "I never know what she's talking about, because I've never seen anything in the history books about an Elstrian named Alaria." The girl rolled her eyes.

WALL-E kept looking at the man.

The man said, "You're wondering how humans got here, aren't you?"

WALL-E nodded.

"Well, 2,000 years ago, humans had to evacuate Earth, as you probably already know. However, the engines of one ship malfunctioned during the hyperjump away from Earth, and it

ended up crashing into a planet very far away from Earth. Fortunately, nobody was killed, and humans could survive on that planet. They soon encountered the Elstrians, who were

tribal and, oddly, holding a mass funeral over the extinction of a species they call the Orona, apparently their beasts of burden." The instant he said that, the girl turned to look at

him. WALL-E got a glimpse of her expression. She was trying not to show her absolute disgust…and she wasn't doing very well at it.

The man didn't notice and continued. "The Elstrians were friendly and helped the passengers learn how to live and thrive on their planet. We have peacefully coexisted ever since."

The girl said, "You've never called them beasts of burden before."

"I'm just saying what I read in a history book."

"Well then, whoever made that book was quite…incorrect. The Orona were never beast of burden."

"You have access to books that I don't…" The man's eyes suddenly went wide. "Oh my god, I almost forgot about that other robot!"

The man quickly got up and went to another room. Just before he left, he said, "You had extensive damage to your exterior, so I had to replace basically all of it."

When he was gone, WALL-E looked at himself. From what he could see, he looked just like he had when he was first made. He then realized that he was lying on his back, on a

table.

The girl said, "My name is Zaera. Dr. Smith is a good man, but in my opinion, he can be disrespectful at times. But not as much as somebody else I once knew…"

WALL-E decided not to inquire as to who she was referring to.

He looked around the room some more. Bright sunlight was streaming through a window on a wall on the other side of the room. It was also noticeably warmer than on Earth.

Zaera said, "This is a desert planet. Because of their digging ability, the Orona were able to survive even when water on the surface wasn't present for 100 miles. We Elstrians

followed them and were able to survive because of them. In fact, if it hadn't been for the Orona, the Elstrians might not have existed. However, the Orona went extinct not long

before the humans arrived. Nobody knows why, though. Only an Orona that was there could answer that. I'm working with Dr. Smith to try to bring back the Orona. We've been very

successful so far. We already have 20. We used genetic engineering to do it. I'm sorry if I'm telling you too much, but I rather enjoy talking, even if nobody's really listening."

WALL-E heard claws gently scuffling the floor. A creature poked its head over the table WALL-E was on. It had light blue fur, short, brown claws, it seemed to have an opposable

thumb, and its face looked like a fox's. It also had large, yellow irises. WALL-E couldn't help but look at it. It looked back. As they just stared at each other, WALL-E couldn't help but

feel like he was in for something big.


	2. The train

Dr. Smith came back into the room.

"Okay, that other robot's doing fine. You wanna know something I find amusing, Zaera?"

"Sure, what?"

"That other robot has extensive damage to its central circuit board. Somebody had fixed it with an old lighter, and nothing else."

"That's interesting, but I hardly find it amusing."

Dr. Smith's face fell. "I swear, nothing's amusing to you."

In a quiet voice, Zaera said, "Some of the Orona's antics I find amusing at times."

"I don't know why I let you talk me into doing that."

"As I recall, you wanted to do genetic engineering when I first arrived, and I had extensive knowledge on Orona."

"Oh, right."

At that moment, WALL-E heard something like a doorbell ringing. The fox-faced creature went to the other side of the table WALL-E was on. Dr. Smith ran into another room. WALL-E

heard him open a door and have a brief conversation with another man. After the door shut, Dr. Smith ran back into the room.

He said, "The annual science fair has been rescheduled to be in four weeks."

Zaera said, "Rescheduled? Why?"

"One of the head judges suffered some sort of injury not that long ago, and it's taking longer than they expected to heal, but not by much."

"Well then, looks like we'll be staying a little longer in the capital than expected." Zaera then noticed that WALL-E was staring at her. "The annual science fair is a sort of competition

in which scientists from all over the planet showcase their research in certain categories, from genetics to medicine to robotics. The head judges give out awards from Most

Revolutionary to Most Appealing to Most Creative. The head judges are also very important, so if one of them can't make it to the preplanned date, they reschedule the whole

event."

Dr. Smith said, "I've never won a single award in all the years I've been going there, aside from Youngest Participant in History."

Zaera said, "He first entered when he was 8."

"I would've gotten an award if it hadn't been for that guy 5 years ago."

Dr. Smith buried his hands in his face. The fox-faced creature went over to him. WALL-E could see its whole body. Its torso was a little over twice as long as a normal fox's, and a

fourth of its torso, close to its front legs, seemed wider than the rest of the torso. That part also seemed very stiff. Its tail was also more like a monkey's in that it seemed like it could

grab onto things. The creature was also, in general, twice as large as a fox.

Zaera said, quietly, "7 years ago, we started our research on Orona, hoping that we could bring them back using genetic engineering. Well, it's more like bioengineering, but Dr.

Smith isn't that comfortable using that term."

"Actually, Zaera, I don't mind if you use 'bioengineering'."

"Okay. Well, we eventually gathered enough information on their appearance to begin. Usually, when a scientist uses bioengineering to create a living being without using natural

DNA, it takes them several tries before the creature makes it through gestation and is developed enough to survive." WALL-E gave her an odd look.

Zaera said, "We used gestation chambers. Anyway, that wasn't the case with us. First try, the Orona made it all the way through, although it took about a year before it was fully

developed. It had been a few days after we had come back from the science fair 6 years ago when it could leave. We focused everything on it, all our research, all our time,

everything. When we revealed it to the public, well, we got more fame and publicity in a few weeks than Edward Johnson ever had in his entire career."

Dr. Smith said, "Edward Johnson was a scientist who made many amazing things and was well-received for it."

Zaera resumed. "Our achievement had an unintended consequence. It gave another scientist, a human, the idea that he could create creatures that could take over the world.

People became aware of what he was doing 4 months after our first Orona was 'born'. By then, he had a very large army. Two months later, a group of people raided his laboratory.

They found all of his creations dead and the scientist wrapped in chains. He claimed that a huge creature had come and done both without even touching them. He said that the

creature's eyes had gold irises and that its angered roar was the most terrifying thing he had ever heard. He wasn't able to give much more information than that. The Board of

Scientists didn't want to risk such a thing happening again, so they outlawed bioengineering, with a few exceptions. They also removed the bioengineering category from the annual

science fair. It was quite a blow to Dr. Smith…and to me."

Dr. Smith said, "We weren't allowed to keep the Orona we had made alive, make any more, or publish any more research on it. I wanted to protest against it, but that was taken

care of for me."

Zaera said, "When the news of our restrictions became public, there was such a huge protest by the public, the scientific community, the electric company, the space program, activist

groups, and pretty much every single group on the planet, they repealed all our restrictions."

Dr. Smith said, "I swear, it was the most exciting time of my life."

Zaera said, "Nobody ever figured out what had stopped that scientist, though."

WALL-E looked at her eyes and noticed that her irises were gold-colored.

Zaera noticed. "WALL-E, I know what you're thinking. I can assure you, I never even went near that man's laboratory."

To WALL-E's surprise, the fox-faced creature said, in a human sounding voice, "Well, do you have any idea what did?"

Zaera, noticing WALL-E's expression, said, "The light-blue, fox-like creature is the first Orona we made. And no, Zeero, I don't."

From another room, they heard EVE yell, _"Gah! Get this thing off of me!"_

Dr. Smith immediately went into another room. He came out a few moments later holding another Orona, this one having green irises and was white with brown spots. It was licking

Dr. Smith's face. His eyes were squeezed shut and his face was covered in saliva.

Zaera said, "Zarino, why do you like licking things so much?" She looked at WALL-E and said, "He has a major issue with licking things. Once, he even licked an electrical socket."

WALL-E looked back at the Orona. Dr. Smith was holding it farther away from his face. Zarino had his tongue hanging down. There were several electrical burns on it.

Dr. Smith said, "And yet, he still licks them at the same frequency he licks other things. I've tried putting covers over the sockets, but he just licks the covers, takes them off, and licks

the socket."

Zarino was staring at WALL-E. Saliva was dripping off his tongue. Dr. Smith quickly took him out of the room.

Zaera said, "You can get off the table, WALL-E." He got down.

Dr. Smith came back several minutes later. "Well, that should occupy him for a while." He turned towards WALL-E. "By the way, would you and that other robot mind coming with us

to the science fair? It'd be a lot more interesting than staying here. The Orona can take care of themselves and it's just not very exciting here, anyway."

WALL-E said, _"I don't think we would mind. In fact, I think that EVE would rather not stay here."_

"Good. We will be leaving by train in two days." With that, he left the room again.

Zaera said, "By the way, if you came from Earth, how did you get here, and how did you get so damaged?"

WALL-E told her the whole story.

When he was finished, Zaera said, "Hmmm."

Insert story breaker here

The train station was much different than WALL-E had expected. For starters, the train station in general was very different from the ones on Earth. There were lots of other robots

coming along, but they were all mindless, having no will of their own unless they were programmed to, nothing but servants to their masters. There were so many robots, the station

workers had to pull out a car specially designed for transporting robots. They had to bring out a few to be able to transport all the robots.

WALL-E was scared. He had been separated from EVE, there was a high level of noise as humans and Elstrians boarded the passenger cars, which he wasn't used to, and he was in

an unfamiliar place.

A station worker led him to the very last car on the train, a robot transport car. WALL-E noticed that all the robot transport cars were in the very back of the train.

She led him to what was basically a small, black box. She flicked a switch that turned on a light built into the top of the box, then turned it off. She pointed to the box and said, "Get

in." WALL-E obeyed.

When she was gone, WALL-E looked at the other robots in the car. They were all robots that looked like they were designed to do dirty work like garbage collecting and such.

A few minutes later, the train started moving. WALL-E was excited. He had never been on a train before. The other robots seemed unfazed.

WALL-E looked at the robot in the box next to his and said, _"Hey, have you ever been on a train before?"_

It was silent.

WALL-E repeated his question.

The robot was silent for a moment before saying, monotonously, _"No."_

WALL-E said, _"I haven't either. This is exciting."_

The other robot didn't say anything.

WALL-E said, _"My name's WALL-E. What's yours?"_

This time, the robot looked at him back. It said, _"Wally?"_

"_Waste Allocation Load Lifter, Earth class."_

"_Earth? What's that?"_

"_Earth is where I originally came from. It's the humans' homeworld."_

"_Homeworld?"_

"_It's the planet the humans first came from."_

"_Planet?"_

"_Nevermind."_

The other robot was silent for a few moments before saying, _"I think I know what you're talking about. If you're from Earth, how did you get here?"_

WALL-E told him the whole story. By now, the other robots in the car were listening, too.

When he was done, the other robot said, _"Hmm, that's quite a tale. Can't say I know anything about a bronze dragon, though."_

Another robot said, _"What's a dragon?"_

Long story short, it wasn't long before all the robots were happily conversing away, talking about their experiences and making up funny stories. WALL-E was amazed at how much

the other robots had been affected by him.

Eventually, one of the robots said, _"You-you've made me realize something. I know why they put us in the back. They consider us expendable, nothing but replaceable workers."_

Another robot said, _"Up until a few hours ago, we kinda were."_

"_But-but don't you see? The high-end robots are all in the front of the robot transport cars and we're in the back, a rather vulnerable place."_

"_The back of the train is a little vulnerable, I'll give you that."_

"_If one of us breaks down, they'll just go, 'Oh, one's broken. Let's get a new one out there.' And they'll condemn the broken one to the trash heap. Hey, are you even listening?"_ He had

noticed that WALL-E wasn't paying attention.

WALL-E said, _"I know I've never been to this planet before, and yet…"_

"_And yet…what?"_

"_And yet I can't shake the feeling that I've been here before…"_

**Author's note: Because of a request by a user, I shall be focusing on WALL-E a lot in this story. That is all.**


	3. The creature

They reached the capital a week later. The robots in WALL-E's car were the last ones out, so when they got out, the station, even though it was much larger than the one they had

boarded at, was crowded with people and robots, mostly robots. WALL-E desperately tried to get a glimpse of EVE as he was forced into a line with the other robots from his car, but

he couldn't see her anywhere. He did see Zaera arguing with a station worker. Zaera said, "But they MUST come with us!" That was all he heard, for the station was also very noisy.

After several minutes, his group finally got outside. WALL-E looked up and saw clouds covering the sky. An Elstrian woman nearby said, "That's strange. There wasn't a cloud in the

sky a few minutes ago."

WALL-E then started looking at the buildings. The architecture was amazing. Then he noticed that the cloud cover had gotten thicker.

He said, _"This is worrying…"_

The robot behind him said, _"It is."_

Meanwhile, a woman was leading their group through the streets. WALL-E noticed other groups being led through the city. They were all in perfectly straight lines.

WALL-E suddenly got the feeling that something was watching him. He looked up. Climbing on a building was a creature with eyes that were as red as blood. It was staring directly

at WALL-E.

At this point, it became so dark, the street lamps turned on. The creature wasn't close enough for it to be affected by the lamps.

WALL-E tried to look away, but his eyes just kept going back to it. Nobody else seemed to notice it.

WALL-E's group continued on for a while. It felt like an eternity to WALL-E. No matter which way they went, no matter whether or not the buildings were connected on the outside,

the creature had kept a steady pace. It felt like the only thing keeping that thing from WALL-E was the other robots and the street lamps, mainly the street lamps.

Suddenly, the creature looked down and its eyes went wide. All the street lamps in the area turned off. It was pitch black. The creature landed on the ground about five feet away

from WALL-E. He could tell that its eyes reflected light, for he could still see them.

The creature slowly walked up to WALL-E. It held its head two feet above WALL-E's. Needless to say, WALL-E was very scared. His fear multiplied when it growled.

Again, needless to say, WALL-E didn't stay there much longer. The creature gave chase as WALL-E zoomed off. Even though it was still pitch black, WALL-E was somehow able to

keep from running into things. The creature tried several times to corner him, but WALL-E always went in a direction that prevented this.

When WALL-E became aware of this, he got a slight feeling that it wasn't luck or coincidence. But he didn't really care. All he cared about was avoiding that creature. However, he did

get the feeling that he was heading for the train station.

After a while, something smacked hard into his side, flinging him about 10 feet to the right and onto his back. The creature quickly caught up to WALL-E. He was terrified. He knew

that the creature had malicious intent.

Suddenly, they heard a blaster gun fire, and the ground between WALL-E and the creature blew up in a small, blue explosion. It was EVE.

The creature had jumped up high onto the wall of a nearby building, apparently to avoid being illuminated by the small fire left by the blaster gun.

EVE pointed her blaster gun directly at the creature. Its eyes narrowed, it growled, and then ran off.

Zaera, who was standing nearby, said, "What was that thing?"

Insert story breaker here

WALL-E recharged in the sunlight coming through the window of the hotel room that he, EVE, Dr. Smith, and Zaera were sharing. The science fair was that day, and people had been

very busy getting ready for it.

As for the creature, well, there was no sign of it since it had run off, and all trace of the black clouds had gone with it.

Zaera came into the room. She said, "Okay. We're all set to leave, and I guess that right now we're waiting for you, WALL-E."

Insert story breaker here

It took about 20 minutes to get to the site of the science fair. A bunch of other people got there at the same time they did. Dr. Smith began setting up an exhibit in the Robotics

section. Zaera helped him.

When everybody was ready, people started coming in the grounds to see the exhibits. It ended up being a lot busier than WALL-E had anticipated. In fact, he ended up being

separated from EVE again. By the time he realized that, he couldn't do that much about it. It was just too crowded.

He went into a space between two exhibits in the Cleaning section, so that he could escape the crowd. WALL-E began to think about what he had seen in the city. There had been

something faintly familiar about it, but he knew that it was completely impossible for him to have been on this planet before. As he was thinking, he realized that the growls that the

creature had made were also familiar. He had no doubt that the creature was the thing that had attacked them when he and EVE had first come to this planet, but that wasn't the

only way…

The Orona, the Elstrians, the alien architecture…it was all faintly familiar, but how? There was no way that he could possibly have come here during his 2,000 years of life.

Before he could think about it more, he heard a man not too far away laughing maniacally. Somebody else yelled, "Stop that man! He's insane!"

WALL-E rushed out onto the main path. He didn't remember what happened next.

Insert story breaker here

WALL-E felt dizzy. Everything had been a blur. He felt a fading tingling sensation all over his body. He then realized that it was much quieter, and he was lying on his chest.

A robot nearby said, _"Well, THAT was unexpected."_

Another robot said, _"I think that might be an understatement."_

"_How is it an understatement?"_

"_For starters, the man literally came out of nowhere. Seriously, he just appeared out of thin air."_

An Elstrian nearby said, "Is everybody in this area okay? We've got several injuries in the other areas, both to the living and the robots."

"_I don't know but you better check everybody, especially that white robot."_

"What white robot?"

"_The one that the yellow one's holding onto."_

That's when WALL-E became aware that his right arm was wrapped around another robot…

Insert story breaker here

EVE didn't understand it. One moment, she had been looking for WALL-E among the huge crowds at the science fair, then somebody had shouted something, and now it was black.

She also felt like she was weightless, similar to when she had been in space, but in a way that was somehow different.

Suddenly, small lights started to appear in the blackness. It soon looked like a starry night sky. She looked down and saw a small lake in front of her. There wasn't even the slightest

disturbance on its surface. Its surface was also like a mirror. It seemed like the surface was part of the night sky. It was very peaceful.

Suddenly, she heard a soft growling behind her. She looked and saw, to her surprise, a giant, white Orona with red eyes. There was something faintly familiar about it… What made

it even more familiar was that it had nine tails…

It suddenly jumped onto her. They both fell into the lake.

"_HEY! WAKE UP!"_

Insert story breaker here

WALL-E felt relieved as EVE's eyes blinked open. She had been unconscious for hours.

EVE, somewhat dazed, said, _"Huh? What? Who's there?"_

A robot (the one that WALL-E had met on the train) that was next to WALL-E said, _"Oh, good. You're fully awake. At least I think you are."_

As EVE was lying down and couldn't get back up, she wasn't able to see who had said that.

She said, _"Who said that? And what do you mean 'fully awake'?"_

The robot, moving to where EVE would be able to see him, said, _"Simply that, about thirty minutes ago, you became semi-conscious and started saying things that didn't make a whole lot _

_of sense, and your tone of voice was also creeping me out."_

"_I did?"_

"_Yeah. One of the things you said, well, you kept asking for somebody named Waltirous."_

"_I don't know anybody by that name."_

"_Well, if you ask, it sounds like an Elstrian name. In fact, I think I once heard a story with an Elstrian by that name, but I don't remember it right now."_

"_What happened, anyway?"_

"_Well, some guy from a mental institute for people that are insane and homicidal suddenly appeared out of thin air with an electric incapacitator in his hands. He immediately began attacking _

_anyone nearby with it. Before authorities could arrest him, he disappeared again. Turned out he had somehow been transported from his cell in the institute and back. What's even more _

_confusing is how he could have done that, unless…"_

"_Unless…what?"_

WALL-E knew what he was going to say. _"I don't think that anything supernatural is going on here. I'd be highly surprised if there was."_

The other robot changed his focus to WALL-E. _"Of course it's supernatural. People don't teleport to and from places for no apparent reasons! And I highly doubt that he could teleport on his _

_own."_

WALL-E said, _"Indeed, something must have teleported him out, but it can't be anything supernatural."_

That's when EVE realized that the other robot was talking to WALL-E.

The robot she didn't know said, _"I'm telling you, there HAS to be something supernatural going on! There's no other explanation!"_

"Actually, there IS another explanation."

The three robots were startled. None of them recognized the voice.

The robot EVE didn't know said, _"Who said that?"_

"I did. I'm on the other side of this energy shield."

They all looked in the direction the voice was coming from. They could tell where the energy shield was, for the being had its hands pressing against it. All of them became scared, for

the being had irises as red as blood. It was also clear that it was quite tall, for its head was about 15 feet off the ground. They still couldn't tell what exactly it looked like, though, as

it was quite dark wherever they were.

WALL-E recognized the eyes. It was the creature that had chased him when he first came to the capital.

The creature said, "I can't break this shield without alerting anybody else to my presence. You've lucked out for now. But your luck won't last."

WALL-E said, _"Who and what are you?"_

"If you think hard, you might remember. In the meantime, enjoy what remains of your lives."

With that, the creature turned around and left.

When they were sure the creature was gone, the other robot said, _"What the heck was that?"_

Insert story breaker here

Several days later, people were still trying to find a reasonable explanation for how the insane man teleported out of his cell, obtained the electrical incapacitator in the process, and

how he teleported back into his cell. Nobody had an explanation that everybody was satisfied with.

Meanwhile, the robot that WALL-E had met on the train (who insisted they called him JAN, short for JANITOR) took EVE (who had long since recovered from the effects of the electrical

incapacitator) and WALL-E to the capital's library, where he had once spotted a book that had "Waltirous" as part of its title. They found the book in the fiction section. Its title was

"Eventia & Waltirous and other Elstrian legends."

EVE, being the only one with true hands, pulled out the book and flipped to the first page of the story about Eventia and Waltirous.

It said, "Long, long ago, during the peak of the ancient Elstrian civilization, there lived two Elstrians, Eventia and Waltirous. Waltirous worked at a junkyard, but made a living by

repairing robots and simple machinery. Eventia, on the other hand, was an aristocrat and worked in the government alongside her father, Joradian. One day, Waltirous saved

Eventia from a particularly violent Orona, earning Joradian's respect and Eventia's affection. Waltirous was very happy, as he had been attracted to Eventia for years and was now

allowed to spend time with her. After several years, their affection for each other blossomed into true love. Joradian realized this and became somewhat worried, for not only was

Eventia already engaged to another aristocrat, but it was forbidden for Elstrians to marry outside their social class. The other aristocrat soon broke up with Eventia for reasons which

he never revealed, but there was still the law to contend with. Joradian became even more concerned for his daughter after she unexpectedly gave birth to twins only two weeks

after breaking up with her ex-fiancée. Things got even more troublesome when their old leader announced that he was going to pick a successor from one of two of his (the leader's)

many children: the oldest eligible child and the youngest eligible child. The oldest eligible child was a violent, greedy, dominating, middle-aged, arrogant, and spoiled-rotten prince

named Babor that was certain that he would be the successor and made sure that everybody knew that. He was also described as having no morals and was very strict about what

the laws should be and about his subjects following those laws. The youngest eligible child, however, was exactly the opposite. Named Gorgio after a former ruler, he was kind,

caring, brave, gentle, merciful, had a strong sense of justice, and was barely an adult. He also had a very young daughter. He also knew Waltirous and Eventia personally and

greatly approved of their love.

"When the time came for the successor to be picked, the old leader chose Gorgio, much to Babor's anger. Out of rage, Babor tried to kill Gorgio right then and there. The old leader

intervened and banished Babor, who swore revenge. Everything went downhill after that. The old leader died under mysterious circumstances and the Orona were dying out for no

apparent reason. Many Elstrians died, as well. Waltirous and Eventia were able to survive the apparent disaster along with Eventia's children and her father. When the Orona

seemed to be extinct, Waltirous and Eventia were kidnapped by Babor, who was still alive. He took them to a deep valley and buried them in a rockslide, determined to end their love

once and for all. It is said that he also stripped them of their memories before they were killed, so that their love wouldn't survive, even after death. To this day, nobody has found a

trace of their bodies.

"Author's note: I used the autobiography of Joradian for the basis of much of this story. He credits a young Elstrian girl and two robots for discovering the final fate of the lovers. For

more information, read "A tale of two lovers", an autobiography by Joradian that he wrote not long before his death."

EVE closed the book. The three robots were silent.

JAN said, _"Wow. That's some story."_

WALL-E and EVE were still silent. There had been something eerily familiar about the whole story…


	4. The Orona

It was night by the time WALL-E and EVE left the library. JAN had left much earlier. They were still thinking about how familiar that story had seemed. So familiar…but it was

impossible for either of them to have been there when it happened, and they had never heard a story that was similar. WALL-E wondered who Joradian was talking about regarding

the two robots and an Elstrian girl…

Suddenly, EVE heard something behind them. She looked but she didn't see anything. WALL-E, sensing this, looked too.

A voice then said, "You are alone."

The robots recognized the voice. It was the creature. This was confirmed when two red eyes suddenly appeared out of the darkness.

EVE, pointing her blaster gun at the eyes, said, _"Why do you keep following us?"_

The creature said, "You don't know yet. And I intend to ensure that you never do. But it'll hardly matter even if you do end up knowing despite my efforts."

"_Huh?"_

Suddenly, JAN called out, _"SURPRIZE!"_

Wooden torches lining the street suddenly burst into flames, lighting up the street and exposing the creature.

Everybody watching was shocked. It was an Orona. EVE was even more shocked when she realized that, aside from a long scar running down its face, the Orona looked exactly like

the one in her dream, the one that had pushed her into that lake.

The Orona was only annoyed.

"Well," he said. "I didn't see that coming. Oh well. You would've seen me eventually."

The Orona looked up and saw the numerous robots among the buildings.

He said, "Hmm." He then turned around and left.

JAN said, _"I wonder what that was all about…"_

Insert story breaker here

When WALL-E and EVE got back to the apartment, they told Zaera and Dr. Smith everything that had happened. When they were done, Dr. Smith said, "Wow! That's quite a story. It

seems like the Orona are far more intelligent than we had initially anticipated!"

Zaera was appalled by what he said. "That's not the important! What's important is that that Orona intends to kill them!"

Dr. Smith seemed unfazed by this. "Meh. I suppose you're right. But still! That Orona showed complex emotions and can speak and understand our language! Its existence also

proves that there are Orona that survived the extinction of the rest and thrived in an unknown location! Isn't that exciting?"

Zaera was more annoyed with him than ever before. "Jacob, that's not the point. Now FOCUS! That Orona is hostile and we have to stop it!" Their argument went on for hours. Or at

least it would have had the occupant of an apartment next door not come and ask them to stop arguing so that he and everybody else on the floor could get some sleep.

Insert story breaker here

"Dr. Smith is a fool." Zaera was still bitter about the argument she had with Dr. Smith the night before.

EVE said, _"I'm sure he'll realize what you were trying to tell him."_

"You haven't been with him for as long as I have. He's the least down-to-Earth person I ever met. All he really cares about is becoming famous in the scientific community. I know

because when I, Jacob, and our first Orona got trapped in a burning building (don't ask how that happened), the Orona and I got trapped under some debris and Jacob chose to get

the Orona out. I was rescued by some firefighters. The worst part is, I knew that he could've rescued both of us as we were right next to each other. When I was finally rescued,

Jacob was gone. When I got back to where we when staying, he was surprised to see me, and he tried to hide that! He told the public that it was impossible for him to try to save

me and still be able to get out of the building in time!" Zaera's eyes suddenly widened.

EVE said, _"What is it?"_

After a few moments of silence, Zaera said, "You don't think that…no…it couldn't be…but it makes so much sense…"

WALL-E said, _"What would?"_

"You don't think that…that Dr. Smith is…the Orona in disguise, do you?"

Before either of the robots could answer, Dr. Smith approached them.

Zaera noticed and said, "What are you doing here?"

Dr. Smith avoided making eye contact with any of them. "I'm going after the Orona."

Zaera was shocked. "WHAT? THAT'S INSANE! YOU'LL GET YOURSELF KILLED!"

"You don't know that. Besides, it could be friendlier than you think."

Before any of them could say something, he quickly walked away. They all stared after him in silence. When he was out of sight, Zaera said, "Well, there's nothing we can do."

EVE said, _"Your statement about Dr. Smith being the Orona in disguise… I somewhat want to say that I don't believe it, but…"_

"But you know that it's true."

"…_I guess."_

Insert story breaker here

That night, Zaera decided to go read Joradian's autobiography in the library.

After a few hours, she finally finished reading it. She was not very satisfied.

She said, "Hmm. It seems like a few things were taken out." When she said that, the librarian looked around to see if there was anybody else in the library. There wasn't.

The librarian said, "There's a reason for that, Zaera."

She went up to the librarian behind the desk and said, "What do you mean by that?"

The librarian went into another room. She came out a few minutes later holding an old book.

The librarian said, "This is the original version of Joradian's autobiography."

Zaera said, "Original version?"

"Yes. Only a few copies were published of the unaltered version. After Joradian died, a new version started being published, one that left out several details. The original copies were

secretly being destroyed and replaced. My great-great-great grandmother got an anonymous letter explaining what was happening. She was told to safeguard the last remaining

copy of the original autobiography. My family has been doing so ever since. We've made a few copies, but they were only for if the original got destroyed. Zaera, I'd like you to have

it."

Zaera was quite surprised. "Me? Why me?"

"I recently got a note telling me to hand the original copy to you. It also said that somebody had found out about the remaining copy and wanted to destroy it."

Zaera took the book from the librarian. Neither of them said anything. Zaera then left, for the library was closing.

As she walked back to the apartment, she got the feeling that something was following her. Remembering what WALL-E and EVE had said about the Orona they had run into, she

turned around. In the light of the streetlights, it was definitely the white, nine-tailed, scar-faced Orona.

The Orona said, "Give me that book."

Zaera said, "So, you're the one that wants this book gone. Why?"

He said, "Why I want it gone is unimportant. Now, give me that book!"

"No!"

The Orona's mouth changed to a sly smile. "Very well. Then you shall see the true power of an Orona!"

He raised his leftmost tail and its tip glowed yellow. Yellow bubbles came out of it. The bubbles immediately moved straight towards Zaera. She quickly got out of the way. It was a

good thing too, for the bubbles exploded when they touched the ground. They left small craters.

The Orona could see the fear in Zaera's eyes. He didn't see any surprise, however. He didn't care. All he cared about at the moment was getting rid of both Zaera and the book.

Zaera ran as fast as she could. The Orona would've caught up sooner had he not been trying to shoot more explosive yellow bubbles at her. In fact, by the time he caught up with

her, they were only twenty feet away from the entrance to the apartments. Of course, the library was only five blocks away from the apartments.

The Orona knocked Zaera onto her back. He lowered the tip of his rightmost tail to her face and said, "I don't care about the book. What I wanted to get was you." That's when

Zaera noticed that a dark purple liquid was dripping from the tail tip.

Suddenly, JAN yelled, _"Halt, foul beast!"_ The Orona looked up and said, "Don't you think that all of that stuff is a little…unnecessary?"

"_With you, nothing is unnecessary!"_

"Actually, that's not true…but that's all I'm going to say." With that, he got off of Zaera and ran off.

When Zaera got up and saw what JAN had done, she couldn't help but laugh.

Insert story breaker here

Zaera quietly read Joradian's autobiography in the safety of the apartment. WALL-E was trying to figure out a puzzle and EVE was watching him.

It wasn't very long before Zaera said, "Hmm. Here's an interesting bit. 'In the days of the first leaders, the heirs would fight to the death for their throne, and the last one left would

be the new leader when the old one died. This practice continued until a queen, not wanting all her children to kill themselves, passed a law that allowed heirs to resign their

eligibility unless the sibling that was made leader died without a blood heir. The results of this law were dramatic.' I never knew that heirs to the throne did that." WALL-E felt that

there was some dishonesty behind Zaera's statement about her not knowing that heirs had used to kill each other for the throne, but he didn't say anything. He did occasionally

glance back at her, though.

At one point, Zaera's eyes widened greatly, but she didn't say anything.

Several hours later, at the same time that WALL-E finally solved the puzzle, Zaera finished the book. Her eyes were still wide open.

She said, "Wow…that was quite an exciting story…I wonder what it would've been like to live during that time…"

JAN suddenly popped into the room and said, _"You should be careful when you say things like that! After all, you could end up having that happen to you!"_

Zaera smiled and said, "It's impossible to go back into the past. It's been proven. Sure, you can _look_ into the past, but you can't actually _go_ back."

"_How do you know?"_

"I've read numerous reports on it. There is no doubt about it. It is impossible to go back to the past in any way."

JAN left without saying anything else.

WALL-E noticed that there had been a level of uneasiness in Zaera's voice, but, again, didn't say anything.

Insert story breaker here

It had been five days since anybody had heard anything about Dr. Smith.

WALL-E, EVE, and Zaera were always careful to travel with several others, for they always felt that the Orona was watching them, no matter where they went.

Zaera soon got tired of it, so when she decided to go to the library with WALL-E and EVE, she had them go without anybody else and at night. When they got halfway there, EVE

was suddenly hit with an incapacitating electrical shock. Sure enough, it was the white Orona.

With EVE basically knocked out and without anywhere to run, Zaera wrapped her arms tightly around WALL-E and shut her eyes. However, instead of a strike, they both felt a

strange tingling sensation, followed by a feeling that they were falling.

Just as Zaera opened her eyes, she landed in a tree and WALL-E landed on the ground.

WALL-E said, _"Ow. Didn't expect that."_ Then he realized that his voice sounded very different. In fact, it sounded like he was speaking in another language.

Zaera, realizing the same thing, said, "Are you okay?" She was speaking in a language that WALL-E had never heard before, but he could clearly understand what she was saying.

"_Yes. What's going on?"_

Zaera was astounded. "I don't know how, but you're speaking in the native Elstrian language."

"_Native Elstrian language?"_

"Yes. It's the language that the Elstrians spoke before the humans arrived. Elstrians are taught it when they're young, but humans can't pronounce it correctly, no matter how hard

they try."

"_I see. But what would be the purpose of… Zaera…look over there."_

She looked. There was a huge city in the distance. It looked like the capital, but it was smaller.

Zaera sniffed the air and looked at the tree she was in.

She gasped. "WALL-E…I don't know how but…but…it looks like we've gone back about 2,000 years in the past."

"_Really? If that's the case… wait a minute. Where's EVE?"_

Zaera got down and looked around. Sure enough, EVE was nowhere to be found.

"That's weird. If she isn't here, then where…?" That's when she noticed that WALL-E was looking out towards the city. She knew what he was thinking.

"We can't go in there!"

"_Why not?"_

"These clothes I'm wearing are human! I'll stick out like a sore thumb if I go in there dressed like this!"

"_Then what do you suggest?"_

"There might be some garbage piles nearby…there might be something in them…"

Sure enough, there was a garbage pile in a hole lined with metal not too far away. On the top was a plain, light brown dress that was in perfect condition. Zaera held it up to her. It

went down to her ankles.

Zaera turned towards WALL-E and said, "Would you mind looking in the other direction for a few moments?" He immediately turned around.

After a few minutes, Zaera said, "You can turn around now."

Zaera had taken off her other clothes and had put on the dress. She was still wearing her sandals. They went well with the dress.

"How do I look?"

"_Uh, you look very nice!"_

Zaera, knowing that he meant it, said, "All right, let's go and look for EVE in the city!"

**Author's note: Hi guys. I bet you're all wondering about the connection between EVE and WALL-E, and Eventia and Waltirous. Trust me, you'll find out. When I'm done with **

**this story, I'll be doing a fan fiction for Portal. I'll also make it tie in, albeit quite loosely, with my saga. It's already gone beyond what I thought it ever would.**


	5. Waltirous

They had hardly even gotten into the city when a somewhat elderly-looking female Elstrian who was wearing glasses and had a sewing kit in her left hand came up to them and said,

"Ah! That dress! I've been looking all over for it!" She was speaking in the native Elstrian language.

Zaera, afraid that their cover might be blown, said, "This is your dress?"

"Well, no, actually. I was trying to find a good idea for a pattern for that dress and when I came back to put the pattern on, the dress was gone. Where was it?"

"Oh. I found it on a garbage pile nearby."

"The garbage deposits? How did it end up there? Well, I suppose that doesn't matter. Come back to my workshop. I need to finish that dress. Be sure to bring your robot with."

Zaera couldn't help but smile as she and WALL-E followed the tailor into the city.

All of the Elstrians they passed looked like they were part of the working class.

The tailor said, "My workshop is close to the border between the commoner and aristocrat sections of the city. I hope we don't run into…HIM…along the way."

"Him?"

"Yes. That no-good, arrogant, dominating Babor! I hope Gorgio gets rid of him before Babor can get rid of him like he did to all the other heirs!"

Zaera said, "Ah, yes. Him. I hope so too."

Both of them knew what the tailor was talking about. WALL-E couldn't get rid of the feeling that Babor wasn't an Elstrian…

Suddenly, something rushed past the tailor, Zaera, and WALL-E.

Zaera said, "What was that?"

The tailor said, "Oh, that's just Gartino. He works as an apprentice to my son."

"Oh. What does your son do?"

"He works at a garbage deposit, but he can repair robots and some kinds of machinery."

Zaera took a wild guess. "You mean Waltirous?"

The tailor stopped and turned around, surprised. "Yes. You know him?"

"No, but I've heard of him."

"Hmm, not surprised. He's pretty well-known." She resumed walking towards her workshop.

The rest of the walk was without much conversation.

Insert story breaker here

The tailor's workshop was a quiet place, a little haven from the fast pace of city life.

Zaera went into a changing booth, closed the door, took off the dress, and threw the dress over the top of the door to the tailor. The tailor went through a door in the back of the

room.

WALL-E occupied himself by looking around the workshop. Somehow, it was incredibly familiar. The tailor was familiar as well. He felt like he knew her name…

Purtia. That was her name. He knew it. But how did he know her name? There was nothing that he had seen to give an indication of her name. The familiarity of Purtia made him feel

strangely comfortable. He knew he could trust her. But how did he know? They were 2,000 years in the past, probably before he was even created. How could he know and trust

somebody that lived before he did so much?

Before he could think about it anymore, the tailor came back. She slung the dress over the door of the changing booth that Zaera was in. Zaera grabbed the dress, put it back on,

and came out of the booth.

The dress had several complicated patterns on it. They made the dress look like it was meant for royalty, but it looked so perfect on Zaera. Her skin color and her sandals matched it

very well.

Even Purtia was surprised by how well it looked. "My dear, it looks absolutely divine on you!"

Zaera got a little flustered. "You really think so?"

"Of course! In fact, I don't think that I've ever seen such a perfect match! You look so beautiful!"

Zaera blushed. Nobody had ever really complimented her before.

"Thanks, uh, what's your name?"

"Purtia."

"Thanks, Purtia."

"You're welcome. Why don't you take it?"

Zaera nodded. She grabbed WALL-E's hand and left the workshop. Once they were outside, Zaera bent down to where WALL-E's audio receptors were and quietly said, "Because

Alaria has far more resources in greater abundance than on Earth, neither the Elstrians or the Orona developed any kind of currency. Until the humans arrived, that is. The Elstrians

were also far more efficient at using resources than the humans ever were." WALL-E began to think that Zaera didn't have a high opinion of humans.

Zaera and WALL-E decided to try and find EVE. They asked everyone that would stop and listen if they had seen EVE (Zaera told them what EVE looked like, of course). They ended

up asking a lot of people as almost everyone they encountered wanted to get a look at Zaera's dress. Nobody had seen EVE. After three hours, Zaera was getting frustrated.

"Where the heck is she? I was certain that she would be here! I just hope that… No, I'd be better I try to stay optimistic about this."

An Elstrian nearby said, "I'm more concerned about where Babor is. I haven't heard anything about him recently."

"You mean that evil heir? I haven't heard anything about him, either…"

Suddenly, somebody not too far away yelled, "YYYYAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRGGGGGGGG!"

In response, almost everybody ran away.

WALL-E and Zaera knew who it was. The voice was identical to that of the white Orona that had tried to kill them.

Sure enough, a large, white Orona with nine tails came rushing down towards them. He stopped fifty feet away from Zaera and WALL-E. It was the exact same Orona that had tried

to kill them, except it didn't have a scar on its face.

The other Elstrian said, "Oh. That's where he is."

The Orona said, "You wanted to see me?"

Zaera said, "He was just wondering where you were. Now, I'm sure that everyone would like it if you left." Everybody looked at Zaera. A few even shook their heads in fear.

The Orona raised his head in surprise. "Do you know who you're talking to?"

When Zaera didn't respond, the Orona rolled his eyes and said, "I am Babor, the next ruler of Alaria!"

Zaera's eyes widened with surprise. WALL-E, however, didn't feel very surprised for some reason.

Babor gave a sly smile. "Ah, now you remember. I'm sure that you'll apologize for that remark now that you remember who I am."

Zaera clenched her fists and said, "No."

Babor lowered his head to the ground and growled. He raised his nine tails. That's when Zaera noticed that he was holding something in one of them. When she realized what it

was, she was unable to hide her horror. It was EVE, still unconscious.

Babor noticed. "Oh, does this robot belong to you?" There was a clear maliciousness in his voice.

Zaera fearfully said, "Um…yes…"

Babor gave a malicious smile. "Well then…catch!" He then threw EVE at Zaera. Fortunately, somebody jumped in front of Zaera, caught EVE before it could hit her, and landed on the

ground.

Babor, a malicious smile still on his face, ran off. When he was gone, the Elstrian who had caught EVE said, "I really hate that guy."

Zaera said, "Don't we all?"

The Elstrian got up, still holding EVE in his arms. He said, "I gotta admit, I've never seen anybody dare to be bold enough to talk back to that guy."

The Elstrian had grey eyes and rust-colored skin. He wore yellow clothes that were the same shade of yellow as WALL-E. He also wore black rubber boots. His resemblance to WALL-

E was a little creepy.

Zaera took another wild guess. "Hey, you're Waltirous, aren't you?"

He said, "Yes I am. Tell ya what, let's get over to my workshop and get this robot fixed."

"I agree."

Insert story breaker here

Waltirous's workshop was cluttered and dirty. There were pieces of metal everywhere. Some were robot parts while others were just interesting pieces of junk. It reminded WALL-E

of his trailer back on Earth 2,000 years in the future.

Waltirous said, "I'm very curious about things I find in the garbage."

Zaera said, "I see."

She then spotted a rust-colored Orona looking through the clutter. It had three tails and was about a fourth the size of Babor.

The Orona spotted WALL-E and went up to him. It said, "Hey dude. I'm getting' some real good vibes from ya. REAL good vibes. Know what I mean?"

WALL-E slowly nodded. Waltirous, having had this happen before, merely rolled his eyes.

The Orona then hugged WALL-E. WALL-E didn't know why, but he wasn't uncomfortable with it.

The Orona said, "It's weird, man! I feel like I've ya my whole life. There's, like, good karma between us, man. Reminds me of when I first met Walt. Look like 'im, too."

Waltirous quietly said to Zaera, "Gartino can be a little embarrassing at times."

Gartino heard him, but he didn't care.

WALL-E, unable to get out of Gartino's hug, said, _"Uh, what do you think about Babor?"_

Gartino instantly broke his hug. "Babor? You mean that no-good, vandalizing, hooligan, joke of an heir to the throne?"

WALL-E nodded.

Gartino scowled. "I swear, just lookin' into his eyes is enough to knock out a man."

Waltirous, who by now was examining EVE, said to Zaera, "That has actually happened."

Gartino continued. "You can see when you look into his eyes that there's somethin' goin' on behind them. An evil, a bad, bad evil that nobody can understand. I just hope that he

doesn't turn out to be some kinda monster or somethin' like that."

Waltirous said, "Well, doesn't look like there's really anything wrong with this robot. Looks like we'll just have to wait for it to wake up."

"It's a girl, Walt."

Waltirous looked at Gartino and said, "How do you know?"

"I just do."

Zaera said, "Why do you feel like Babor is a monster?"

Gartino said, "A few nights ago, I had this weird dream. I was standin' in blackness and couldn't see nothin' but myself. Babor came outta nowhere and he just stood there. Then this

strange black cloud came outta 'im. Babor disappeared and the cloud turned into a black circle. A weird tentacle came outta it and it was holdin' some sorta statue, 'cept the statue

moved a little. Then the circle got closer to me and I thought it was tryin' to eat me. Then I woke up and realized the whole thing was a dream. Think it means something?"

Waltirous said, "I don't know, Gartino. I don't know."

Insert story breaker here

After EVE woke up a few hours later, they thanked Waltirous for his help and left his workshop. Zaera and WALL-E told EVE everything that had happened in a place where they

wouldn't be overheard.

When they were done, EVE said, _"So, Babor is the white Orona that was chasing us… Somehow that doesn't surprise me."_

Zaera was a little surprised by that statement. "What do you mean 'it doesn't surprise you'? Have you met him before?"

"_I don't think so…but ever since I came to Alaria, I've been getting these feelings of déjà vu…"_

WALL-E said, _"Me too."_

Zaera's brow furrowed. "I…I don't get it. You two, as far as you know, have never been here before, and yet…"

"_And yet it feels like we've spent a lifetime here."_

"I don't get it…I just don't get it…"

**Author's note: Different than what you expected, eh? I wasn't planning on Waltirous having an Orona friend. I've decided to make him more important later in the story. And **

**trust me, you'll find out why Alaria 2,000 years in the past is really familiar to WALL-E and EVE. Also, as for Gartino's dream, you'll discover the full meaning of it during my **

**saga, but not this story. That's all.**


	6. Babor's issue

As Zaera, EVE, and WALL-E thought about what to do next, they failed to notice the red eyes that were watching them from above.

Babor very quietly said, "So, our guests are from the future. I wonder why this place is familiar to them. Perhaps they're… Yes, almost certainly. It must be that. In that case, I'd

better…stick to the story." With that, he left.

Insert story breaker here

The three walked through the commoners' section, hoping that something would happen. An Elstrian on a bench nearby said, "Rather uneventful day it's been, hasn't it?"

Zaera said, "I guess you could say that."

"Have you seen Babor anytime recently?"

"We encountered him a few hours ago."

"Was he near Gorgio?"

"His younger brother? Well, I didn't see him. I keep forgetting what he looks like, though. Could you remind me?"

The Elstrian looked at Zaera, a little surprised. "He looks like-."

A loud and somewhat high-pitched screech suddenly rang through the street. Several people ran off. The Elstrian got up. "It's Babor!"

Another screech that sounded similar rang out. The Elstrian's eyes widened. "It's…Gorgio…"

An Orona was thrown onto the street, landing on its back. The Orona was black, had golden irises, had nine tails, and was half the size of Babor.

Babor came out of nowhere and jumped onto the black Orona. It quickly became clear that Babor wasn't going to let the black Orona live.

The Elstrian quietly said, "Gorgio…I can't believe it…"

Zaera said, "What's happening?"

"Babor is going to kill Gorgio for the throne. If he succeeds, and he certainly will, Torin will have no choice but to have Babor as the next leader. It's such a shame. It used to be that

the word 'kill' was used metaphorically for when an heir lost their eligibility. Babor knows it, but he doesn't care."

Babor stood on his hind legs, preparing to strike the final blow. Zaera covered her eyes, unable to look. There was a sudden screech of pain, but it was coming from Babor. Zaera

took her hands off her eyes. There were burn marks on Babor's chest that hadn't been there before. The pain caused by the fresh burn marks distracted Babor long enough for

Gorgio to quickly get up and knock Babor over. Gorgio tried to keep him down, but Babor, being twice as large and much stronger, easily got him off. He then got up and, instead of

staying to fight, quickly left, casting back a murderous glance.

When he was gone, Zaera noticed that everybody was staring at WALL-E, their eyes wide.

Somebody said, "Did that robot just…?"

Zaera said, "Just what?"

Somebody else said, "He interfered with Babor's attempt at assassination. That's the very first time anybody's tried something like that."

"Is that a good thing or a bad thing?"

"I don't know, but Babor's likely to try to get revenge. I just don't get why he's so violent. It's so unnatural for an Orona."

Gorgio said, "It is indeed." He then walked up to WALL-E and said, "May I ask what your name is?"

WALL-E introduced himself, EVE, and Zaera.

Gorgio said, "WALL-E… I know an Elstrian named Waltirous. He looks rather like you…"

Zaera said, "We already met him."

"You have? What are your thoughts on their resemblance?" (By now, everybody else had resumed what they had been doing.)

Zaera said, "It's downright spooky."

"Hmm. Say, I'm sure that my father will want to know about Babor's failed assassination."

Zaera picked up the hint immediately. "Are you _inviting us to visit your father?_"

"Is there something wrong with that?"

"Err, absolutely not. I'm just surprised."

"And rightfully so. Commoners are not usually invited to the aristocratic section. Why don't you ride on my back, Zaera?" He then turned sideways and lied down, trying to encourage

Zaera.

After a moment of hesitance, Zaera climbed onto his back. His fur was soft and smooth.

EVE picked up WALL-E, showing that she was ready to follow Gorgio.

He then dashed off at a surprising speed. Even EVE was surprised. Gorgio was about as fast as a racecar! He also didn't shake around that much. It was a surprisingly smooth ride

for Zaera.

It wasn't long before they reach the gates to the aristocratic section. Gorgio stopped ten feet in front of the gate.

Two guards stood at the gate, watching the flow of life in the commoners' quarter. Upon seeing Gorgio, one of the guards said, "Good afternoon, prince Gorgio. Uh, who are these

three commoners?"

Gorgio said, "They helped me against Babor. I want to speak with my father."

"Um, all right."

"By the way, did Babor come through recently?"

"Yes sir, just a few moments before you came. He didn't say anything."

"Hmm."

The two guards then opened the heavy, metal gate. Gorgio walked through.

The aristocratic quarter was beautiful and strangely familiar to EVE. She knew she had never seen anything like it before and yet… it was more familiar than the commoners' quarter.

To WALL-E, on the other hand, it wasn't that familiar, but it didn't affect his opinion of it. The aristocratic quarter was essentially a field with several trees and houses in it. The

houses looked so natural that he didn't initially realize that they were houses at all. It was gorgeous. It looked better than Earth in the present. Upon thinking that, he wondered

what was happening on Earth in the present. He then became homesick. As familiar and beautiful as Alaria was, his home was on Earth 2,000 years in the future. He knew there was

no way to get back, so he began thinking about how they had been taken back to the past in the first place.

He didn't get to think about it much, though, as he got distracted by the buildings again. He then noticed where Gorgio was heading: a large mountain in the distance.

Along the way, Gorgio went around a large lake that reminded EVE of the one in her dream when she had been unconscious.

As Gorgio approached the mountain, WALL-E, using his binocular eyes, saw that it wasn't just a mountain. It was a huge structure that had been carved into the mountain. It was

amazing.

There was no fence around the structure, so Gorgio went right in. Almost immediately, a male Elstrian wearing a red toga came up to him and said, "You have returned, prince Gorgio.

Did something happen? And, uh, who are these three?"

Gorgio said, "I would like to speak with my father."

"Oh. Well, he's in the middle of a meeting right now, so…"

"Just get him when the meeting's over."

"Yes, my prince." With that, the Elstrian left.

Gorgio said, "They have these meetings every once in a while, but since they rarely have much of anything to talk about, it's mainly used for socializing among the aristocrats. Of

course, Eventia never stays…"

Just then, a sweet voice said, "Hello, Gorgio!"

Gorgio, caught off guard, looked to the left and said, "Err, hi, Eventia. Didn't expect to see you here."

"Of course I'm here. You don't think I come here for the meetings, do you?"

Zaera, EVE, and WALL-E looked. It was a female Elstrian that had shiny, black hair and gorgeous blue eyes. She was wearing a green dress that could be described as both fancy

and fluffy. It was so fluffy, it was impossible to tell what the shape of her body was. Her skin was a much lighter color than the other Elstrians WALL-E and EVE had seen. In fact,

aside from the green dress, she somewhat resembled EVE.

Gorgio said, "Well, no. I know that you're probably tired of me saying this, but why have you been wearing that dress so much? You never wore that dress up until about 7 months

ago."

Eventia became somewhat flustered at the question. She quickly said, "Say, who are those three?"

Gorgio, realizing that she wasn't going to answer the question, said, "These are Zaera, WALL-E, and EVE. They…uh…assisted me in a major way."

"Is EVE the white one?"

"Yes."

"She looks quite like me, doesn't she?"

Zaera said, "She looks like you almost as much as WALL-E looks like Waltirous. I'm saying 'almost' because of that dress you're wearing."

Eventia looked down at her dress before saying, "What's wrong with my dress?"

"Well, nothing. It's actually quite nice, but isn't it a little…hot?"

"Oh, no. It's too puffy for that."

"In that case, don't you think that it isn't, uh, tight enough?"

"I'm wearing my normal dress under this. My normal dress isn't as loose."

"You're wearing two dresses at the same time."

"Yes…"

"Don't you think that's a little…unnecessary?"

Eventia became flustered again. "Um, I'll be keeping both these dresses on, thank you very much."

At that, Gorgio's eyes widened and his tail dropped to the floor. He slowly said, "Eventia… You're not…are you?"

Just then, to the right of Gorgio, a voice said, "Um, Gorgio?" It was Babor's voice, but it sounded sorry and unconfident. It got Gorgio's attention immediately. He was surprised by

what he saw. Babor was three feet away from him and he was looking down at the floor, his tails drooping low.

Gorgio had never seen him in this position. Babor looked up at him; his eyes looked sad and sorry and strangely glossy. There wasn't a sign of hostility or malice in them.

Babor said, "Um, I would like to apologize for trying to kill you earlier." He sounded painfully sincere.

Gorgio, in disbelief, said, "What did you say?"

"I said I would like to apologize for trying to kill you earlier." Tears were coming out of his eyes now.

"Babor, what's going on? You've never apologized for anything, ever."

"It's…complicated." WALL-E noticed that his voice sounded different, but that was probably because it was cracking due to his crying.

"Babor…"

Babor sighed. "From the moment I could understand speech, a voice has been in my mind, telling me to do things and showing me how. Because I was a mere infant, I listened to it

and did everything it told me to. Eventually, it got to the point where it was who I was. I _became_ the voice, and it became mine. All the things it told me to do were evil things. At first,

I had some difficulty doing it. But it became easier and easier until I derived pleasure from it. It got rid of most, if not all, of my morals. I never realized just how much it was

controlling me. That is, until I experienced pain for the first time." He stood on his hind legs, showing the burn marks on his chest.

After a few minutes of silence, Gorgio said, "You mean that an evil voice has been controlling you all this time?"

"Yes, but this relapse might only be temporary. I must get away…" With that, he turned around and left.

After a few moments, the Elstrian wearing the red toga came and said, "Torin is ready to hear you now."

Insert story breaker here

"And then he walked away." Gorgio finally finished telling Torin what had happened with Babor. WALL-E and EVE were still marveling at Torin's size. They were in the throne room,

which was far larger than the docking bay on the Axiom. Torin alone took up 95% of the room. Torin had cream-colored fur and brown eyes. It seemed like you could sense the power

coming from him.

Torin said, "Hmm. It would seem as though there is another player in this game, one that nobody truly knows about."

"How could they? Whatever it was must've been created along with Babor."

"I do not think so, my son."

"Why not?"

"Before Babor was conceived, I always had a feeling that something was inside my mind, something ancient and malevolent. But it never tried to control me, and I think I know why.

During my childhood, I had immense difficulty controlling my powers. In fact, it wasn't until I was 40,000 years old when I began to get the hang of it, and even then there were

multiple false glimmers of hope. Now that I think about it, I still don't think that I can fully control my powers. When Babor was conceived, the feeling that it was there went away.

When Babor began practicing his powers, he always did perfectly. He had complete control over everything that he could do. No other Orona in recorded history has ever had such

natural mastery of their skills, or such power. Babor was the most powerful Orona anybody had ever known. And the most malevolent. You know very well of his violence. This being

must have had some reason to control Babor. I wish I knew what kind of being it was…"

His eyebrows furrowed for a moment, then sprung up. "Say…there was that dream I had before Babor was conceived…it may mean nothing, but on the other hand…"

Gorgio said, "What was the dream about?"

Torin said, "Let's see… There was a giant black circle against a white background… It looked like it was made out of smoke… At first it just stayed there, and then it began moving left

and right and an unfamiliar voice said, 'Soon I shall leave. The day you find out my name will be the day I kill you. It doesn't matter if you somehow learn how to properly control your

powers, for even in my current state I am more powerful than you could ever be.' And then it was over."

Gorgio said, "'even in my current state'? Does that mean that whatever it is, it's in a weakened state?"

"I don't know, but we must stop it."

Zaera, speaking for the first time in a while, said, "How are you gonna stop it if it's more powerful than you could ever be? It's gotta be more powerful than when it occupied you."

Her eyes then widened and she cringed.

Torin lowered his head near Zaera and said, "Your voice and your dialect remind me of my granddaughter, who has the same name as you."

"Err, it does?"

"Yes."

He looked at Gorgio. "Thank you for telling me about Babor."

He looked at WALL-E. "And thank you for saving my son."

He raised his head up to its original height. "Now, I'm sure that Gorgio will be willing to take you home."

Zaera, thinking fast, said, "Uh, thanks for the offer, but it's impossible for us to go home. And I can't tell you why."

Torin said, "Oh. I see." There was compassion in his voice.

He then called one of the servants and said, "Arrange permanent quarters for these three."

Zaera was shocked. "You're letting us STAY IN THE PALACE?"

"Of course! I've done that with others before."

"Err, thank you."

"You're welcome."


	7. Breaking down

Zaera sat on the bed in her new quarters, alone. Outside, the sun had set. She felt hopeless.

"What are we going to do? We're stuck in the past and can't do anything about it. We're definitely back during the legend of Waltirous and Eventia, but when?"

Then she noticed what seemed to be a large dent in the wall behind a wardrobe. She moved it to reveal a hole in the wall that was large enough for her to crawl into. She looked in

and saw that it seemed to keep going. She couldn't see very far into it, though. Curious, she went in. She noticed that it gradually went up as she went on, until it eventually leveled

out. She guessed that she was going over other people's rooms at this point.

Eventually, she heard something cracking beneath her. It was the rock she was lying on.

_Uh oh_, she thought. The rock beneath her gave way and she fell into the room of an Elstrian aristocrat. She looked up to see Eventia staring down at her, her eyes wide with

surprise. She had taken off the green dress and was holding in front of her. There were white sleeves on her arms. They were apparently part of her usual dress.

Zaera became very embarrassed. She quickly got up and said, "Sorry about this. I was just investigating a hole I found and, well… I go."

Before she could leave, Eventia said, "Wait. I must ask you a favor."

"Uh, sure, anything."

"I am engaged to the son of a friend of my father. His name is Argo."

"Your fiancée?"

"Yes. However, I don't love him at all. The most I might ever consider him as is a friend, not a husband. I want to choose who to marry."

"Like Waltirous?"

"Him? Oh no, I don't think he's the kind who'd want to make a commitment to somebody."

"Huh?"

"Waltirous has been faithful to me for longer than any other woman he's courted with, but that's almost entirely due to the fact that he considers me as the most beautiful woman

he's ever seen. He's also had many chances to be with me. He's nice, but he's more of a free-roam lover. I admit, I'm quite jealous, but I've come to accept it."

"So, he courts with anybody he wants?"

"Basically, but he knows if they are taking advantage of him and he dumps them right away. His mother doesn't know of his behavior, but I don't think I'll be the one to tell her."

"I see. You wanted to ask me a favor?"

"Yes, yes. I want you to find a way to get Argo to call off the marriage without harming his or my family honor."

"Yours?"

"Yes. He won't call it off just because I don't love him, and he'd be quite mad if he knew of my…condition."

"Condition?"

Eventia sighed and let the green dress drop to her side. Zaera couldn't keep her eyes from widening. Eventia was heavily pregnant.

Zaera said, "Oh. I see. It was Waltirous, wasn't it?"

"Yes. I haven't told anybody yet, but I won't be able to keep it a secret for much longer."

"How much longer?"

"I don't know. I haven't had any contractions yet, but…"

"I see."

"You must get Argo to call off the marriage."

"How?"

"I don't know how. Talk to his sister. She might know something useful."

"All right. I'll be leaving now."

"Okay, goodbye."

With that, Zaera went out the door and headed for WALL-E and EVE's quarters.

Insert story breaker here

"Then I came here so I could ask for your help."

Zaera had just finished explaining to Grela, Argo's sister why she, WALL-E, and EVE were in her room (she had already told EVE and WALL-E everything that had happened the night

before, and I do mean _everything_).

Grela said, "I see. Well, I'll do anything for Eventia. After all, we were friends since we were about three years old. Let's see, what's something that could help us? Oh! I know! Argo

is very superstitious. He goes to a fortune-teller in the commoners' quarters every day close to noon. Nobody else knows that he goes there. I don't know why, but so far, everything

she's predicted has come true. If you tell her to tell him that he should call off the marriage, she'll gladly do it. She is Eventia's aunt, after all."

Zaera said, "It's almost noon now. We better get going. Thanks Grela."

Grela yelled, "You're welcome!" as the three quickly left.

Insert story breaker here

Zaera, EVE, and WALL-E watched from behind a curtain as Argo entered the fortune-teller's tent. He sat down and said, "So, what's my fortune for today?"

The fortune-teller smiled and looked into a ball made of blue crystal.

She suddenly looked up and, in an otherworldly voice, said, "Today shall be a rather eventful day for you. You will face great change in the coming weeks. The first step, and the most

important, is this: you must call off your marriage to Eventia, or you shall be murdered by a horrid being!"

Argo's face went white. "What kind of being?"

"A being of pure evil, one that spells destruction for all of us! If you don't call off the wedding, you shall be murdered that very day!"

"Will I ever marry _anybody_?"

"If you call off the marriage, you shall marry Saeree in five weeks."

Argo broke out into a wide smile. "I'll get to marry…her?"

"Yes."

"Oh, thank you for telling me, Madam Forili! Thank you!"

In a normal voice, Forili said, "You're welcome."

Argo rushed out of the tent, ecstatic. Apparently, he was keener on marrying Saeree than Eventia. Zaera said, "You didn't have to tell him all that stuff about being murdered by

some evil being."

Forili said, "It was what I saw, and I prefer to be honest. By the way, I saw something earlier for your two robots."

EVE said, _"You did?"_

"Yes. It was only this: Lord Lus shall restore your true love."

"_Lord Lus?"_

"Yes."

"_I've never heard of anybody named Lord Lus."_

"I wish I could show you what Lord Lus looks like, but my ball won't give me an image. I did get the impression, however, that it looks similar to a very large slug."

"_A slug."_

"Yes."

_"Why a slug?"_

"I don't know, that's just the impression I got. If there is nothing else, you may leave now."

Zaera said, "Before we leave, may I ask you something?"

"Sure. What?"

"Why do you sound and look so nervous?"

Forili sighed and said, "Every day, I look at my own fortune to see what will happen during the day. When I looked at the one for today, it said that I would die today. It didn't say

how, and I didn't get an impression."

"Oh. I see why that would make you nervous."

"I know that it's accurate. The only times I've ever been 'wrong' are when I misinterpret an image or a vague sentence. And those times were when I first started this and I was

inexperienced!"

"What exactly did the fortune say?"

"It said, 'you will die today.' That's it."

"Hmm. Very specific, yet very vague."

"That's exactly what I thought."

Zaera looked at the lantern above the table before they left. It illuminated the whole tent.

When she, WALL-E, and EVE were outside the tent, Zaera looked around. There were other ten Elstrians nearby. Before Zaera could think about what to do next, she heard Forili

scream.

She immediately turned around and tried to go in…only to bounce off an invisible shield covering the entrance. From what Zaera could see, the room was completely dark. Something

inside the tent tried to cover Forili's screams by covering her mouth, but everyone could still hear it. The other Elstrians that were nearby tried to break the invisible shield, but they

were as unsuccessful as Zaera. They could only listen in helplessness as Forili screamed. Soon, her screaming was cut off. Zaera, who had been pressing against the shield with her

hands, suddenly fell forward as the shield disappeared. She landed face-flat on the ground. She looked up and saw the lantern burning as brightly as before. She looked down and

saw the Forili lying on the ground. Another Elstrian ran over to Forili and put his hand on her wrist. Then he put his hand on her neck. Then he cupped his hands around his ear and

put it over her heart.

After listening for a few moments, he looked up with horror in his eyes and said, "She's dead."

Insert story breaker here

Zaera, EVE, and WALL-E walked through an empty street. Zaera kept wondering what could have killed Forili and make the inside of the tent seem like it was dark when it really

wasn't. Suddenly, she stopped. WALL-E and EVE stopped as well. They all felt the presence of something behind them.

_Do not turn around._

The thought rang through their heads. It seemed like it was their own mind, but something else had put it there.

_Now, you want to know why I killed Forili._

Zaera said, "Yes."

_It's very simple: I didn't want her to foresee what I have planned._

"What do you have planned?"

_You already know, Zaera. You can't keep your little secret from me._

"How did you know we were from the future?"

_I overheard your conversation. But that's not what I mean by "your little secret"._

Zaera swallowed in nervousness. How could he know?

_Your little friends will find out, Zaera. You know that as well as I do._

"Who are you?"

_You will know my name in time._

"Why did you possess Babor?"

_He is more powerful than any other Orona on this planet. He'd become even more powerful if there was a total solar eclipse._

"A total solar eclipse? What's that?"

_A total solar eclipse is when the moon completely covers the sun for a short amount of time. Unfortunately, Alaria has no moon. As such, I must ensure that Babor gets to a planet and _

_location that is about to have one._

The presence then faded away. They all turned around and saw nothing.

"Hmm."

Insert story breaker here

When they got back to the aristocratic section, the entire place was in an uproar.

They heard somebody nearby say, "I can't believe this! First Argo calls off the wedding for reasons I can't understand, then I hear that something murdered a commoner named Forili

who was rumored to be a fortune-teller! What the heck is going on?"

Somebody else said, "Chaos is what's going on."

"Couldn't you be a little more specific than that?"

Somebody else said, "I heard that some kind of monster is running around."

"What kind of monster?"

"I don't know. But I also heard that it's behind Babor's violence."

"Oh, great."

Zaera saw Babor watching the crowd from behind a rock.

She said, "Are you Babor or the thing that possessed him?"

He looked her in the eyes.

"Yep, you're Babor."

"Why is that thing is interested in me?"

"We had a run-in with it on the way here. At least I think we did."

"You did? What-what did it look like?"

"We had our back turned to it and it told us not to turn around."

"Oh."

"It told us that you were more powerful than any other Orona on the planet."

Babor just stared at her.

"It also said that you'd become even more powerful during a certain event which is impossible on this planet."

"How much more powerful?"

"It didn't say."

"Do you think it'll possess me again soon?"

"It's very likely."

Babor looked back at the crowd and said, "Let the calamity begin."

**Author's note: I would like to inform you all that I have changed the description of Gartino's dream to fit my current ideas. That's all.**


	8. The orb

That night, Babor had a nightmare. The black circle hovered in mid-air in the middle of an absolutely humongous cave lit only by torches. It then moved to a spot carved into the back

wall that was next to some platforms. The carved spot was meant for the black circle, as it was in the shape of half a circle. Babor noticed that there were seven platforms next to

the carved spot, each of varying sizes. Suddenly, several beings appeared next to Babor. One of them was ten times larger than the others. That one went to the largest platform.

The other beings went to platforms that were their size. They were all next to the black circle. Babor then noticed that there was still one platform empty. It seemed to be about his

size. That's when he noticed the name plate on the wall below the platforms. From left to right, they said: Glut, Gree, Wrat, Coranzinto, Prid, Lus, Slo, and Env. The platform above

the plate that said "Prid" was the empty one. All of the other beings had black bodies with glowing red eyes. The one on the platform labeled "Lus" said, "Well?"

Babor said, "Well what?" His voice now sounded unnatural and demonic.

"Are you going to get on your throne or not?"

"MY throne?"

"Are you all right, Prid? You look quite shaken."

Babor looked at his arms. They, along with the rest of his body, were as black as the bodies of the beings with red eyes. He couldn't help but scream. Upon screaming, he woke up.

Babor couldn't make sense of it. Was Prid his real name? Was he a minion of the black circle? Was that why he was the most powerful Orona on the planet? Upon thinking the latter

thought, he realized that he was quite proud of himself. In fact, he was proud of a lot of things. Not once had he realized that before. He had to tell somebody.

Insert story breaker here

"And then I decided that you would be the one I would tell because, well, I trust you."

Zaera said, "I'm glad that you trust me, but I don't half understand what your dream means."

WALL-E and EVE listened from behind the door. They wished that Babor had said more about Lus.

Babor said, "I hoped that you might know."

Zaera said, "Unfortunately, I don't. Somebody else might, but I wouldn't be able to give a name."

"I did notice something that I think is important, though."

"What?"

"The throne that was labeled "Coranzinto" was the one the black circle was in."

Insert story breaker here

The next two weeks seemed to pass by so quickly, Zaera almost didn't notice. In fact, she hardly even realized it until she heard something that was coming from the hole in the wall

in her room. She knew that it was Eventia, and she knew what was happening.

As she burst out of room, she saw a servant and said, "Have you ever assisted with childbirth?"

The servant said, "Um, yes. Several times. Why?"

"Then you better come with me."

With that, she grabbed the servant's wrist and sped off towards Eventia's room, attracting the attention of everybody they passed.

Insert story breaker here

Joradian, Eventia's father, was nearly hysterical. "I don't believe this! How could she- I mean- why would- oh I don't even know what I'm saying!"

Zaera tried, somewhat in vain, to calm him down. "I'm sure that there's some point to all this. It just isn't clear yet."

"What's clear is that my daughter has just given birth to twins! And they're not from Argo! They're from Waltirous!"

"How could you tell?"

"Argo never mated with Eventia. Waltirous on the other hand…"

"I know what you're going to say. Besides, Argo wasn't as keen on marrying Eventia as he was with another woman."

Joradian just stared at her. "What's your name, anyway?"

"Uh, Zaera."

He stared at her for several moments before saying, "Zaera… What…"

"Uh, I can't tell you. It's very complicated."

Zaera immediately left. She turned around a corner…and cringed when she saw WALL-E and EVE talking to a young, cream-colored Orona that had golden irises.

The Orona said, "So your friend sounds like just like me? Interesting…"

The Orona spotted Zaera out of the corner of her eye. Zaera got very freaked out.

A servant came out from behind the Orona and said, "Just so that you all know, Torin has announced that he will be revealing his heir tomorrow morning."

Zaera became visibly nervous.

The servant noticed. "Is something wrong, miss?"

EVE said, _"All right, Zaera. You've been acting strangely from the moment we came here. What is going on? Or are you-?"_

Zaera interrupted. "Look, I have a confession to make, but I can't tell you now. All I can say is that we're going to have to be rather careful during the next week."

She spotted Babor further down the hall, staring her in the eyes. There seemed to be a hidden evil behind them.

"Very careful."

Insert story breaker here

The palace courtyard was crowded. People from both the commoners' quarter and the aristocratic quarter were there. Zaera was in the middle of the third row. Unlike the rest of the

crowd, Zaera was very nervous. She had been able to tell Gorgio to be careful about Babor, but she couldn't help but feel nervous, especially since she now knew that there was

something else behind Babor's violent behavior. Babor and Gorgio were on a platform with sloped sides, both awaiting Torin. Gorgio kept glancing back at Babor.

Finally, an Elstrian yelled, "Announcing the arrival of Torin, ruler of Alaria!" The crowd cheered. Zaera got more nervous. She knew what was going to happen, but she knew that she

shouldn't do anything. Torin put his head at level with the two Orona. He stared intently at them for several moments.

Then he said, "The heir to my throne shall be…Gorgio."

Babor yelled, "WHAT?" He was so angry, he lunged at Gorgio. Gorgio, however, was prepared. He struck Babor with his claws, causing a long cut on his face. Babor

immediately gripped his face in pain. There was a huge commotion in the crowd at that point.

Torin grabbed Babor by the neck and said, "Babor, I'm tired of this. From now on, you are banished from this city!" With that, he literally threw Babor over the fence surrounding the

aristocratic quarter. At that point, due to the unusual heat and extreme nervousness, Zaera fainted.

Insert story breaker here

It was the next day when Zaera woke up. Gorgio, who was checking on her, was a little startled. When she saw him, she said, "Gorgio, we need to get to Torin."

"What- why?"

"Why is not important. What's important is that we get to Torin."

She then jumped out of her bed and ran towards the throne room with Gorgio close behind. They ran past EVE and WALL-E in the hall. Concerned, they both followed.

Zaera flung open the doors to the throne room. Torin was lying on the ground, a puddle of saliva by his mouth. He wasn't moving and his eyes were closed.

A servant nearby noticed and said, "Uh oh."

Zaera said, "Uh oh indeed."

The cream-colored Orona came in and said, "What happened?" Her eyes bulged at the sight of Torin on the ground.

In an almost unnatural voice, Gorgio said, "He…he's dead."

"Dead?" There was curiosity in her voice. "What's 'dead'?"

"He's not alive anymore."

The servant had been taking a closer look at Torin's body. "Well, I don't see any external marks. No signs of a struggle, either."

The young Orona said, "What does that mean?"

"I would say that he finally died of old age, but if that was the case, he would be in his room, not here. Another cause could have been asphyxiation, but that's also unlikely because

this room is not airtight in any way. What are other possibilities? Hmm…"

That's when the servant noticed that WALL-E was staring at the ceiling. He immediately became somewhat confused due to the fact that, as far as he knew, there was nothing

interesting on the ceiling.

The young Orona noticed that the servant was looking at WALL-E who was looking at the ceiling. She looked up and said, "Uh, should that black thing be there?" The moment she

said that, everybody in the room was knocked to the floor. They all felt a strange presence pass by them and rush towards the main entrance.

The servant said, "What was that?"

The young Orona said, "I wish I knew…"

Insert story breaker here

WALL-E was so concentrated on his own thoughts that he hardly noticed when EVE had picked him up so they could follow Zaera, who was riding on the young Orona's back,

heading towards the commoners' quarter to look for Waltirous.

When WALL-E had felt the strange presence, he had also felt a pulling sensation from his chest. It was like something was trying to remove a part of him that was old, forgotten, no

longer needed, but there nonetheless. He hadn't tried to resist, but it seemed like whatever was pulling couldn't pull hard enough, meaning that whatever it was trying to get out

was staying in there. Even now he could feel the pulling sensation, although it wasn't nearly as strong without the presence of whatever it was.

Eventually, Zaera spotted Waltirous in an empty alley.

When he saw them approaching, he said, "Hey, long time, no see! How've you been? I've been hearing a lotta rumors lately. I heard that a fortune-teller…"

Zaera said, "Yes, yes, I know all about that. I wanted to ask you something."

"Fire away."

"This may be a strange question but, would you say that you are guilty of lust?"

Everyone was surprised by her question.

Waltirous, amused, said, "If by "lust" you mean "attraction to and courtship with several women because they're beautiful", I'd say that I'm guilty as charged! Why'd you ask?"

"I want to see if my hunch is right." Turning to WALL-E, she said, "WALL-E, would you say that you're lustful?"

WALL-E, who WAS paying attention, said, _"By his definition, absolutely not. Shouldn't you be asking EVE if I'm lustful, anyway?"_

"Apparently my hunch was wrong."

Waltirous said, "I'm not going to say what I think your hunch is, but…is anybody else getting a chill up their spine?"

Everybody nodded.

There was a sinister feeling in the air. Zaera knew what it was. It was the same feeling she had gotten when that voice had talked to her…

_Lust… Could it be…? Yes, it must be…_

The voice echoed in their minds. They all turned towards where the sinister feeling was strongest. There, hovering in mid-air, was an enormous black orb. There were black wisps

coming off of it. It slowly moved towards Waltirous and stopped four feet away from him.

_Hmm. As much as I want to, I'm not strong enough for it to be successful. I don't have the time to just wait to become powerful enough. There IS an alternative. Risky, but if it works…_

It was apparently talking to itself.

The orb then rose several feet into the air.

_It's time this empire fell._

The orb then shot off like a bullet.

Waltirous collapsed to the ground and, panting, said, "My heart feels like it's gonna jump outta my chest!"

The young Orona said, "I have a bad feeling about this…"

Insert story breaker here

Zaera, for reasons known only to her, continually asked anybody that would stop to listen if anybody they knew had gone missing. It was three hours before they started saying

yes.

"Well, my daughter was supposed to be home an hour ago, and we haven't seen a trace of her. I hope she's okay."

"I'm not sure if this counts, but when I got back from work an hour ago, my entire apartment was completely empty and my wife was gone. My neighbor was in the hall the whole

day and he never saw or heard anything."

"I came home from work half an hour ago only to find that my house had disappeared without a trace."

After another hour, almost everybody said yes.

"I saw a school disappear before my eyes. I went to my doctor but the clinic also disappeared. There was another guy who also saw it happen."

"I was in charge of a group of students on a field trip. Every single one of them disappeared in the blink of an eye. I still can't believe it."

After yet another hour, people started talking about it openly.

"My apartment complex just disappeared. I still can't decide if I really saw it or not."

"My whole family disappeared right in front of me." The man who said that then disappeared like a soap bubble. It freaked out everybody that was watching.

After that happened, Zaera said, "Okay, I don't think we need to ask anybody else."

Gorgio then ran up to the group, panting hard. "Thank goodness you guys are still here!"

"What is it?"

"The entire aristocratic quarter is gone! Vanished before my eyes!"

"Is there anybody else left?"

"Only Eventia, her children, Joradian, Argo, Grela, and Saeree."

"No Orona?"

"Not a single one. This can't be happening!"

"Unfortunately, it is, and I don't think anybody can do anything about it."

"At this rate, the empire that lasted for countless generations will be gone before the sun sets."

"I have to agree with you. I'm still having a hard time accepting it." Zaera mumbled something under her breath, but nobody heard it.

Insert story breaker here

Gorgio's prediction was accurate. By nightfall, there was no sign that the city existed in the first place. The remaining 200 Elstrians had set up small tents made of animal skins.

Inside a tent, Joradian said, "I don't believe this. To cause this would have taken a being with powers beyond an Orona to do this!"

Zaera didn't say anything except, "Where's Eventia?"

"She's in another tent."

Suddenly, they heard a woman scream.

"That was Eventia!"

Zaera said, "We'll do it! Just stay here!"

Zaera, WALL-E, and EVE rushed out of the tent and saw a large dark figure zooming away, holding Eventia and Waltirous with what appeared to be tentacles.

EVE picked up WALL-E, Zaera climbed onto EVE's back, and EVE zoomed off in the direction the figure had gone.

**Author's note: If it feels like I'm going too fast, please let me know.**


	9. Prid

They went on for what seemed like hours. The desert was endless. There was a rock every now and then, but other than that there was nothing.

Just when EVE began considering heading back, Zaera said, "Hey wait, isn't that a ravine up ahead?"

Sure enough, there was a large crack in the ground not very far from them. When they got closer, it turned out to be a canyon. They spotted something at the bottom. It was Eventia

and Waltirous, huddling together for warmth.

Upon seeing them, Waltirous said, "You shouldn't have come here."

Zaera said, "Why not?"

_Because of what I'm about to do._

It was the voice again. Zaera looked up and saw the black orb, hovering just about the canyon.

_The amount of power I got from absorbing almost the entire empire is as much as I get from existing for one hour. Disappointing, but unsurprising. As such, I'm going to go ahead and try._

"Try what?"

_Reincarnating them._

"You can't reincarnate somebody that's still alive! Besides, what could you possibly gain from- wait a second. You get more power from existing than absorbing matter?"

_To answer your observations in order, I intend to fix that, a follower of mine, and yes. If you knew where I get my power from while I simply exist, you would understand._

"Uh…"

_I'm tired of this stalling! Now they DIE!_

Rocks then began to fall over the side of the canyon. Eventia and Waltirous then looked at EVE, WALL-E, and Zaera as though they had never seen them before. All three of them

closed their eyes as a rock fell down on top of the amnesic couple.

The threesome were suddenly grabbed by what felt like a furry rope. They opened their eyes and looked. It was Babor. He immediately began running away, trying his best to save

the others from the avalanche that went after them.

_Babor, get back here! I can tell you why you are so powerful! Please Babor! The others I will let live, but please come back! Please, Prid, PLEASE!_

Babor ignored the pleading voice in his head. The black orb, despite its continuing pleas, didn't chase them. Zaera wondered why the orb had called Babor Prid. WALL-E and EVE,

however, weren't paying attention. The moment that Eventia and Waltirous had been crushed by the rock, they knew why Alaria had seemed so familiar to both of them. They had

been there before…as Waltirous and Eventia.

Babor was fast enough to outrun the avalanche, but the avalanche was gaining speed. Babor, realizing that he wasn't going to be able to outrun it for much longer, did something

that he had never done before: he jumped onto the side of the canyon and ran up it. He scaled the huge wall in less than thirty seconds. He quickly jumped onto flat ground and ran

until the canyon was out of sight. He then stopped to catch his breath.

Babor said, "Wow… I can't believe I was able to do that."

Zaera said, "That was pretty impressive. Would you mind putting us down?"

"Er, of course."

He gently put them on the ground and said, "I can't believe that that thing was able to cause the downfall of our empire so quickly. And it hardly got much power from it. If that's the

case, then I don't think I'd want to know what it'd take to get that thing at full power."

Zaera said, "I don't think I'd want to know, either. What are you doing here, anyway?"

"I saw that thing and decided to follow. I wish I could've saved the other two, though." He dropped his head in sadness.

"There wasn't anything you could do. Besides, I can't believe I'm saying this, but there might've been some good that came out of it."

Babor raised his head and looked at her with wide eyes. "You mean to tell me that the two robots that have been with you the whole time are the reincarnations of the two that

were killed?"

"Er, that's not what I was-."

EVE said, _"No, he's right."_

"He _**IS?**_"

"_Yes. I know it."_

"I'm not going to ask what made you realize that. By the way Babor, did you notice that the orb called you Prid?"

Babor's eyes widened. "It did? I didn't notice."

"That dream you told me about… Do you remember anything similar to it?"

"…Now that you mention it, I find that I keep associating the name "Coran" to the black orb. I also remember images of being in a dark cave and of falling through a strange tunnel

that was closed off not long after something else went through it. I kept falling until I was surrounded by a feeling of nonexistence that went up my body to my head. When it

enveloped my head, I…I was inside my mother. At least, that's the next thing I can remember." Babor shivered. "Why do I get the feeling that…?"

His eyes then widened and there seemed to be a hidden evil behind them.

Zaera, becoming a bit fearful, said, "Babor…?"

Babor looked at her and said, "Hey, Zaera…would you mind going back to the Elstrians and telling them what happened to the two that got crushed?" His voice had returned to its

previous "evil" form.

"Babor…?"

"Look, girl. I can't go back 'cause I'm banished. Besides, they'd run from me in terror. I need time to think. I'll tell you about what I realized some other time, okay?"

"Okay…"

"Good." With that, Babor ran off into the distance. As she watched him go, she couldn't help but wonder what would happen to him over the next 2,000 years…

Insert story breaker here

Joradian sighed. "So…my daughter was killed in an avalanche caused by Babor…somehow I'm not surprised by his actions…"

It had pained Zaera to lie about Babor, but she couldn't tell them what had really happened.

Another Elstrian said, "Look on the bright side. You still have your grandchildren, and we managed to find 20 Orona."

"You're right. I shall raise my grandchildren as if I was their father. The Orona will help us rebuild our society."

Gartino, one of the surviving Orona, said, "I knew it. Babor was the one that done off with everythang. Man, he's more bad-."

"Gartino, we don't need to know your opinion to get the point."

"Well excuse me pops! If my brain's right, you were getting' some winks while everythang was vanishin'."

"And as I recall, you were hiding in your secret underground bunker in order to save yourself from Babor."

"Dang, you're good, pops."

WALL-E, who had been silent for quite a while, said, _"Hey Gartino, can I talk to you for a second?"_

"Sure thang, dude."

WALL-E took Gartino thirty feet away from everybody else and Gartino lowered his head so that WALL-E could talk to him without being overheard.

As the other Elstrians talked, Zaera looked at the two, hoping she could figure out what WALL-E was going to say.

She was too far away to hear WALL-E, but she could tell when he said something because Gartino's eyes widened so much, it looked like they were going to pop out of their sockets.

An Orona said, "Zaera?"

She looked. It was the young cream-colored Orona.

"Yes?"

"Well, we're alike in a lot of ways."

"We are."

"I was wondering if, um, we-."

"We are."

"We are thinking the same thing, are we?"

"I think so."

"Well, if that's the case, how did you-?"

"I'm still trying to figure that out."

"Well, do you have anything to say to me? Like any advice or something?"

"I want you to promise me that you will assist in bringing back the Orona."

"But I'm only 6,000 years old."

"I don't mean in that way."

"Huh?"

"In a few weeks, great change will come. A shooting star will crash to the ground. When that happens, I want you and the other Orona to either disguise yourselves as Elstrians or

go into hiding."

"I don't know the significance of that, but I'll do as you say."

"Good."

Zaera noticed that, while Gartino was still rooted to where he was, his eyes bulging and his mouth open wide, WALL-E was next to EVE, listening to Joradian.

Joradian said, "You three have helped in ways which we could never thank you enough for. You saved Gorgio from the hands of Babor, the losses of this disaster could have been

greater if it wasn't for you three, and you told us of what Babor did, both to our civilization and to my daughter. Waltirous's mother wasn't one of the ones who survived, but I'm sure

that she misses her son in the above, for a person who died without any memories is doomed to wander the void forever. Such a terrible fate."

Zaera was getting a little anxious. She quickly got up and said, "Joradian, I would like to go out and see if there aren't any more Orona hiding somewhere."

"Very well. You may go. But please be careful! I don't want to see anybody else get killed by Babor!"

Zaera nodded and looked expectantly at WALL-E and EVE. They got the hint.

When the tents were out of sight, EVE said, _"You brought us out here for another reason, didn't you?"_

Zaera said, "I didn't want to run the risk of you two accidentally giving us away. Besides, I have a feeling that we've done everything we can here in the past. It doesn't seem like we

have any reason to stay here any longer."

The moment she said that, all three got a tingling sensation and, this time, felt like they were being pulled up. They instinctively closed their eyes. After a few moments, both of the

sensations stopped at the same time. They then realized they were on solid ground.

Zaera was the first to open her eyes. They were in the corner of an alley.

She sniffed the air and said, in English, "We're back, back in the present."

EVE, in the Axiom code, said, _"We are?"_

"Yes, and it looks like we've returned to normal."

"_Except for your dress."_

Zaera was still wearing the dress that had numerous patterns on it, the one she had gotten from the past.

"Oh well. Doesn't make much difference, does it?"

"_Hmm."_

"Come on. Let's go see what's going on. I hear a commotion not that far away."

A voice said, "What the-? What are you doing in there?"

"Huh?"

"Where have you three been? You've been missing for two weeks! Smith has been so worried about you three!"

"John's alive?"

"Yes…"

"Where is he right now?"

"Last I saw him, he was near the park fountain."

Zaera jumped up and ran off, with EVE and WALL-E close behind.

As she ran, she received comments like, "Where have you been?" and "Where did you get that dress?" and "Dr. Smith's in the park looking for you."

It wasn't long before they got to the park. There was a bit of a crowd, but not too dense. They also weren't talking. There was also a fountain that was quite large.

Zaera heard a man say, "Has anybody seen Zaera or the two robots?" It was Dr. Smith.

Zaera said, "Dr. Smith, we're over here!"

The crowd parted to reveal Dr. Smith standing twenty feet away from Zaera. He was completely intact.

He said, "Zaera! Robots! Where have you three been? And where did you get that dress? It looks quite good on you."

Zaera said, "It's a long story as to where we've been and where I got the dress. Say, weren't you going after that Orona?"

"I couldn't find it. When I got back five weeks later, I heard that you three had disappeared. Are you sure you don't want to talk about it?"

At first, Zaera didn't answer. She kept staring at him, as though there was something about him that was different.

After a few moments, she said, "I will say, though, that we found out a lot about the Orona, including the name of the Orona that tried to kill us. Its name was…Babor."

"Babor, eh? I think I saw that name in some book I read not that long ago…"

"It also turned out that Babor's violent behavior was due to possession by a strange and evil orb-like being."

"Really? That's interesting."

"Why do you say it's interesting if you already knew that?"

Dr. Smith was silent. So was everybody else.

Then he smirked and said, "If that was a guess, then it was a darn good one."

His entire body was suddenly enveloped in a thick, black gas. The gas changed its shape so that it looked more like a giant fox with nine tails…

The gas then dispersed to reveal a white Orona with a scar on its face. It was Babor.

Everybody except for Zaera, WALL-E, and EVE was astounded.

Zaera said, "Somehow, I'm not surprised."

Babor, in his "evil" voice, said, "I didn't really think you would be."

Suddenly, his eyes bulged and then shut tight and Babor clenched his teeth as if in pain.

Dark streaks appeared and ran down his face to his tails until half his body was black.

He opened his eyes. His irises seemed redder than before. It also seemed like they were glowing.

Babor said, "In case you're wondering what just happened, I partially reverted to my actual form."

Zaera said, "Prid?"

"Yes. Also, I would like it if you called me that from now on, as Babor no longer exists as you know him."

"Very well, Prid. I must say, disguising yourself as a human was a rather clever idea. How did you do it?"

"Several years ago, I saw a young boy who had gotten lost in the desert. There was nothing I could do to save him. I decided to take the opportunity and took his memories and

took on his form. I went to his family and lived as though I was actually the boy. I also ended up learning quite a bit about human society on this planet."

"Well then, I must say that you are a master of deception, Prid."

Prid gave an evil grin and said, "Not so fast, Zaera. You've been just about as deceptive as I have been. I've shown that Orona can change their form. You are not an exception."

Zaera was silent.

Prid continued. "The moment I met you, I knew who you really were. You can't fool me…princess."

Zaera slouched.

"That dress you're wearing is made of very elastic material, so you should be able to still wear it. It may be uncomfortable, though."

Zaera sighed and said, "I tried so hard to keep this disguise."

"You wouldn't have been able to keep it forever in any event. Somebody would've figured it out eventually."

"Very well."

Zaera was suddenly surrounded by golden light. When it had gone away, in her place was a small cream-colored Orona wearing a dress. Gorgio's daughter. WALL-E and EVE weren't

exactly surprised. The humans and Elstrians watching were even more astounded. For some reason, Prid's eyes were wide open, even though he knew it all along.

Zaera said, "You look surprised, Prid."

"Huh? Oh, it's just that…well, for a moment, I thought you were somebody completely different."

"Who?"

Prid sighed and said, "Serin. I knew her quite well."

"Is she a relative of yours?"

"Serin? First of all, she's a completely different species from me. Secondly, all my relatives died a very long time ago. As Prid, that is."

"What is Serin?"

"Well, what Serin originally was no longer exists. When she battled my master, she was an owl-dragon."

"Owl-dragon?"

"Yes. You can actually find them in this galaxy, though they now go by a completely different name. The only reason I'm telling you this is because you will eventually encounter

them."

"What makes you so sure? Can you see into the future?"

"If you were as powerful as I am, you'd know a whole lot more about temporal mechanics, mainly alternate realities."

"Huh?"

"It doesn't matter. What's important is that- AHH!"

Something had jumped onto Prid's head and was now scratching him like mad while Prid thrashed around trying to get it off. All they could tell was that it was the color of bronze.

"AHH! GET IT OFF ME!"

"Take THAT Coran!"

WALL-E and EVE recognized the voice instantly. It was the bronze dragon, and his voice still sounded the same as when they had first met him.

Prid yelled, "I am not-ow!-Coran! I am-ow!-Prid! Now get-ow!-off me!"

The bronze dragon stopped attacking and Prid stopped thrashing.

The dragon said, "You aren't?"

"Of course not." Prid then grabbed the dragon and threw him onto the ground.

The dragon said, "You could've waited for me to get off, you know."

Prid's eyes suddenly widened. "Wait a minute. Your voice… What was the name again? Sparrow! You're Sparrow!"

EVE said, _"Hey, you told us that it was impossible for us to pronounce your name!"_

Sparrow somewhat guiltily said, "Well, I lied."

Prid said, "You've met him before?"

"_Yes. He's the one who brought us here, and he gave us some assistance about 1,300 years ago."_

"Hmm. Interesting."

Sparrow nervously laughed and said, "Well, since there's no point in me staying any longer, I'll just be leaving." He immediately took off.

Zaera said, "Who was that?"

Prid said, "Sparrow was in love with Serin, and he still is. I don't know what happened, but they got separated. One of the others might have done something."

"Like Coranzin-?"

"Unless you want to bring him straight here, I strongly recommend that you only call him "Coran". I don't quite know why, but saying his name in full will bring him to whoever said

it."

"What if two people that are a large distance apart said his name at the same time?"

"Um, I don't know. Not very many beings ever knew his full name, so…"

"How old is Coran?"

"Older than I could comprehend. That's what he said when I asked him."

"Why do you call him a male?"

"Well, his voice sounds male- why I am telling you all this? I don't think you have any further involvement in our story. I should leave."

He had only taken two steps when a voice yelled, "Halt, villain!" The voice was quite familiar.

Prid said, "Oh no. Not this guy."

"You shant harm anybody else, vile one!"

Prid looked at the nearby fountain and said, "Gartino, would you mind getting out of the fountain so we can see you?"

Gartino lifted his head out of the water and put his front paws on the edge.

Prid said, "Well, I see you overcame your fear of water."

Gartino said, "I never had aquaphobia."

"Then would you mind explaining why I once saw you cowering in front of a puddle of water?"

"I, um, I would like it if you didn't say anything that might harm my dignity."

"You never cared about dignity before, Gartino. And what's with the dialect change, anyway?"

"I won't answer the dignity question, but as for my dialect, eight words: I hate it when others think I'm stupid."

"I see. May I go now?"

Gartino, climbing out of the fountain, said, "You shall not be leaving, Babor. Not after what you have done to your own species."

Prid was astounded. "Gartino, were you even paying attention when I said that my name is Prid, not Babor? Or were you unable to hear me underwater?"

Gartino said, "I don't believe you. And it was quite difficult to hear anything underwater."

Prid, incredulous, said, "Look at me! My eyes are glowing red and half my body is black! How could you not notice that?"

Gartino flatly said, "Glowing eyes and half black body…"

Prid, his eyes wide said, "Gartino…are you _blind?_"

"Well, um, yes and no."

"Yes and no?"

"I can see, but not in the way most beings see. For example, I can't see through a window."

"Natural sonar?"

"Yes."

"But Orona aren't supposed to have any ability like natural sonar…"

"They aren't? Then how…?"

"I have no idea…"

"Oh well. It doesn't matter that much. Anyway, if you are Prid, then were you created by this Corzan?"

"Coran. And of course not. I used to be the same species as I am now. At least, that's what Coran told me."

"How did you meet Coran? What made you join him? What was your name before it was Prid? Who were you before you joined Coran?"

Prid's eyes were wide open. "Who was I before I joined Coran…? I…never thought about that…" After that, Prid was silent for several moments. Then…

Somebody said, "What's happening to his streaks?"

Prid's body began to turn back to its previous snow white form and his eyes began to stop glowing and turn golden.

Suddenly, an unnatural yet vaguely male voice spoke in his mind. WALL-E could hear it as well.

It said, "Listen to me, Prid. You gave up your former identity in exchange for the power to fix a terrible mistake that you made. I warned you of the price that you had to pay and you

agreed regardless. It is impossible to get it back. You are my servant forever. Nothing can change that."

Prid's eyes resumed a red glow and his body was once again half covered in black streaks.

Prid then left without saying another word.

The voice continued in WALL-E's mind. "The only reason you can hear me now, WALL-E, is because Lus's essence is still attached to your soul. When that essence finally separates, I

shall be sure to get it."

Gartino said, "Well, now what?"

**Author's note: I decided to end the chapter here because it was getting a little long. I think that WALL-E and EVE being the reincarnations of Waltirous and Eventia was a little **

**more obvious than I would have liked, if you know what I mean. One more chapter and that'll be it for both this story and my stories in the WALL-E category (I ran out of **

**ideas.) After this story is done, I'll be writing a story in the Portal game category.**


	10. Serin

Auto was absolutely frantic. WALL-E and EVE had been missing for a long time, and there was no indication as to where they had gone. Now Auto was searching in the plains behind

their trailer. By now, he didn't really have much hope of finding them. Then he spotted an area on the plain where it was just dirt. He had never noticed it before. Upon closer

inspection, he saw a spot that had burn marks on it. From the size of the spot, it seemed like it was caused by a small rocket. He instantly knew what it meant.

_So,_ he thought. _WALL-E and EVE have left. But why? And where did they go?_

He then got the feeling that something was in front of him, so he looked…and jumped backwards in surprise. It was a giant, rust-colored fox with three tails.

Auto, in his usual monotonous voice, said, "Who and what are you?"

The giant fox said, "Pleased to make your acquaintance. My name is Gartino. You must be Auto."

Auto was surprised. "How do you know my name?"

"Two acquaintances of yours told me everything they knew about this planet on the way here."

"WALL-E and EVE?"

"Yes."

The two robots then came out from behind Gartino.

Auto said, "Where have you two been for the past several weeks? And what is that thing?"

EVE said, _"It's a long story."_

Insert story breaker here

WALL-E and EVE finally stopped.

Chi said, "Gartino really wanted to go with you, didn't he?"

WALL-E said, _"He said that if we didn't bring him with us to Earth, he would kill himself."_

EVE said, _"I just realized something. Not only does Chi look like Coran, but he sounds quite similar, as well."_

Anny, who had been silent up to this point, said, "He does?"

EVE, suspicious, said, _"Yes… Very much so…"_

Chi floated up a few feet and chuckled nervously.

He said, "Um, uh, hey what's that over there?"

Anny, also suspicious, said, "Over where?"

Another voice said, "Over here."

Surprised, everybody turned in the direction the voice had come from. Standing only ten feet away from them was Prid. Now, 90% of his body was black and his eyes were almost

nothing but glowing, red irises. There was an air of evil around him, but it felt like it had been put there by something else.

EVE said, _"Prid? What are you doing here?"_

Prid said, "A solar eclipse shall occur within the hour. I'm here to watch it."

Auto said, "They didn't predict a solar eclipse to happen today."

Anny, in a somewhat unnatural voice, said, "You loved solar eclipses. And you still do. Sometimes, you'd make them happen just so that you could watch."

Prid said, "Well, it also sets a mood that- wait a minute, how did you-?"

His eyes widened. In an astonished tone, Prid said, "So you're Serin… From what I've heard about you, I'm not surprised."

Anny said, "I am. And I remember everything now."

"It's been a very long time."

"34, 878, 347, 817, 895, 347, 891, 874, 947, 843, 783, 568, 359, 248, 949, 092, 909, 025, 897, 248, 239, 923, 589, 534, 784, 875, 843, 573, 478, 937, 786, 743, 774, 290, 123, 487,

344, 378, 472, 427, 894, 384, 524, 783, 447, 735, 727, 442, 783, 488, 923, 784, 572, 722, 200, 295, 358, 184, 584, 388, 453, 787, 454, 843, 920, 019, 894, 898, 934, 892, 349, 023,

149, 023, 903, 894, 784, 478, 954, 789, 478, 945, 782, 898, 974, 238, 923, 478, 924, 789, 428, 923, 489, 982, 349, 834, 093, 409, 091, 901, 489, 148, 934, 189, 341, 893, 478, 948,

973, 189, 031, 897, 348, 973, 489, 734, 189, 703, 157, 891, 789, 153, 147, 891, 789, 178, 907, 891, 789, 157, 896, 680, 913, 564, 890, 893, 531, 589, 890, 150, 915 ,389, 065, 898,

347, 892, 995 years to be a little more precise."

Prid was amazed. "Wow, has it really been that long?"

"Yes."

"How in the world did you keep track of that?"

By now, the robots had moved several feet away.

Chi went over to the robots and quietly said, "I think you guys should leave."

Auto said, "I agree." All the robots then ran off towards the city.

Serin said, "I've just always been aware of how much time has passed."

Prid said, "Well, uh, I'm not sure what to say at this point, so I'll just lie here and wait for the eclipse to happen and for Coran to get here."

Serin got very nervous. She looked up and could just barely see the moon right next to the sun. Then, the moon began to block out the sun. Serin, having seen a solar eclipse

before, realized that the moon was moving over the sun at a noticeably faster rate than a natural eclipse.

She looked back at Prid, who merely smiled.

In moments, the sun was completely covered by the moon.

When that happened, Prid's entire body became the darkest black possible and his eyes became a solid red that glowed like fire. No pupils, no irises, just a solid red spot for eyes.

He said, "Finally, full power again. I can't wait for Coranzinto to get here."

Suddenly, Chi floated ten feet above Prid and said, "Why wait for Coran when I'm already here?"

Serin quickly backed away as Chi rapidly grew in size until he was a massive black orb with black wisps coming off of him.

Serin said, "You were Coran the entire time?"

In a highly unnatural yet vaguely male voice, Coran said, "Of course. Chirabanui was nothing but a pseudonym. It was a rather clever idea, taking the form of a lowly scout for

Karantius. Of course, it was basically the only option I had. It was made even easier by the fact that my bonds to my minions had been severed, making it harder for them to detect

my power. Your "parents" should never have existed in the first place, though. If it hadn't been for the black hole, my power would've slowly returned."

Serin said, "If it wasn't for the black hole, you wouldn't be alive."

Coran said, "Serin, I get my power from the dark energy in existence. The only way you could get rid of me permanently is to get rid of these."

Thousands of black tentacles suddenly appeared all over Coran. There were so many, they completely covered his "body".

Coran continued. "These things absorb the dark energy in the surrounding area. Even if something managed to cut them off, they would just grow back. If there isn't enough dark

energy, they expand until they find an appropriate source. In short, the brighter the light, the darker my night. As for you, Serin, you never understood what was giving you power.

You are no longer connected to what once gave you power. Better yet, you don't even know how to connect yourself. As such, it will be very easy for me to do this."

Suddenly, one of the tentacles shot towards Serin. She tried to run, but she had only managed to turn around when it wrapped around her. She desperately tried to resist as it

dragged her towards Coran, but it was absolutely useless. Coran lifted her into the air and began to thrash her about wildly as he drained her of what power she did have. When it

was gone, Coran threw Serin onto the ground.

He said, "I see that you still contain the essence of your original form."

Once again, Serin's body had dramatically changed. Now she looked like a human and was the size of an 8-year-old. She had a deep tan and her brown hair was straight and shiny.

She also wore a dress made of plant material.

With difficulty, she lifted her head and, in a bizarre accent, said, "Coran…zar…"

Coran said, "Come, Prid. We must get to Lus. He has already left the planet. We must leave at once. It is time for the seven sins to be reunited once more!"

Prid said, "Yes, master."

A black vortex appeared behind Coran. It was a portal to where Lus was. Coran and Prid quickly went through. Just as it began to close, Serin pointed her hand at it. It stopped

closing. She managed to stand back up. She stood there for a few moments before she said, "Coran…zar techet!"

She then ran through the portal. It closed behind her.

Meanwhile, the robots had secretly been watching from behind a large rock.

Auto said, "Wow. Didn't expect that."

EVE said, _"He's gotten a lot more powerful from the last time we saw him."_

A voice behind them said, "I guess that now you know, don't you?"

They all turned around. It was Sparrow, the bronze, mechanical dragon.

EVE said, _"What are you doing here?"_

"I sensed that Serin was here. Looks like I'll have to find my own way to her."

WALL-E said, _"How long have you been in love with Serin? And who is Coran really?"_

Sparrow sighed and said, "I've been in love with Serin for as long as I can remember. I was there when she defeated each of Coran's major minions, what he calls "the embodiments

of the seven sins". Back then, I was an actual living being. I would also have been there to watch her defeat Coran if Wrat hadn't…"

Auto said, "Hadn't what?"

"Wrat was the last one she faced off against. After she defeated him, he was able to gather enough strength to get back up for a few minutes. He stunned her and threw me

against a wall numerous times. Just as Serin got over being stunned, Wrat collapsed again and he threw me out a window just before he did so. We were inside his lair and his lair

was inside the top of a tall mountain that wasn't too far from the sea. Serin found me a few feet from the water line. I was still alive, but…"

Auto finished for him. "But not for long."

Sparrow nodded. "A strange-looking man built this body for me after I told him my story. I've tried to find Serin, but every time I get close, she ends up having to go somewhere else.

It's incredibly frustrating, but it's worse not being with Serin, so I keep trying."

The robots couldn't help but pity him.

Auto said, "We understand. However, before you go off to find Serin, it would be a good idea if you did something beforehand."

"Sure. What?"

"If you wouldn't mind explaining what happened to Serin to Karantius, Celestia, and the Albatrians."

Sparrow begrudgingly said, "Fine."

_The end_

Development

**Serin**-Originally, I wasn't going to have Anny turn out to be Serin, but it would have made the stories about Anny be rather pointless. My mom may not like all these plot twists, but

that's what happens. Also, it is pronounced "sAIRin".

**The story**-Unfortunately, I don't remember where the inspiration for this story came from. Sorry.

**Sparrow**-His name is NOT a reference to Captain Jack Sparrow from Pirates of The Caribbean. Also, "zar techet" means "you idiot".

**I'm not in a mood to explain things, so I'll leave there. My next fanfiction shall be in the Portal game category. This is my final story for WALL-E and the final chapter of this **

**story. Goodbye.**


End file.
